These Lines of Lightning
by Rhino7
Summary: Collection of ditties revolving around Leon, Tifa, and occasionally Duke. Sequel to previous collection Good Enough for Me.
1. Chapter 1

**These Lines of Lightning**

**By Rhino7**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as is Duke. The title is based on a line from **_**Accidentally in Love**_** by Counting Crows, which I have no affiliation with. **

**I hath returned! And I come bearing goodies! So after this semester nearly killed my muse, the holiday spirit of late has been reviving it. That and kikofreako's collection of drabbles titled **_**Espy**_**. Read it! It's awesome. I don't have near the gumption to resume my full stories, and any dramatic little ficlets I'm working on are coming off as silly. So…I decided to restart my collection of ditties. **

**This new series will act as a sequel to **_**Good Enough of Me**_**, picking up where that one ended. It will be taking a more romantic turn for Leon and Tifa. I plan on using this collection to begin laying foundation for the full length story I'm writing for them. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**101 – The Next Day**

The apartment was quiet. It had been quiet for several hours now. Three o'clock in the morning cast a moonlit shadow through the windows. The light filtered in through the blinds and danced over the wooden floor.

Simple furniture filled the living room: a recliner, a table with three mismatching chairs, a coffee table, and an ugly couch. Files and notebooks and stacks of paper were splashed on every flat surface.

For the longest time, only the sounds of the clock ticking and two pairs of lungs breathing kept the place from real silence. The red gold retriever lifted her head from her curled position on the bed. Ears perked, the dog stared at the door, as though waiting for something to happen.

Well, something had already happened, all right, but it wasn't a matter for a dog to consider important. All Duke was aware of was that her master was not happy, and if he was not happy, then how could she be? After trying and failing several times to cheer him up, licking his face and pushing her nose against his hands, she had retreated to the woman's room. The woman wasn't her master, but she was around enough that the dog saw no threat in her.

Until now perhaps.

Sniffing at the air, Duke uncurled her spine and unfolded her paws, straightening up on the bed. Stretching languidly with her forepaws out, rear end in the air, she yawned. Once all stretched out, she hopped to the floor and left the bedroom.

Her claws clicked on the wooden floor as she padded out into the small living room. Master's room was just through that door, but now wasn't—

Ears went higher as the dog sniffed the air. Master and the woman were both in there. That had never happened before. Keening, she ducked her head and snuck into the room. One step, two steps, and then a bound, and she was on the bed too.

The two were sleeping on their sides, backs turned to each other. The woman wasn't wearing that thing she normally had over her eye. She smelled relaxed though. Sniffing at her shoulder with mild interest, the dog turned her attention to Master. He was more deeply asleep than the woman, but not quite as relaxed.

Making a low noise in her throat, Duke touched her wet nose against his neck. When there was no response, she licked his jaw and made another keening noise. Nothing.

With a snort, she gave up. She trotted to her spot at the end of the bed. Turning in a circle and a half, she lay down in the space between the two humans' legs. She rested her head on her curled paws and watched her master's shoulder rise and fall with steady breathing.

Why was the woman in here?

As the dog began to drift back to sleep, a slight noise tapped against the window in the room. Her head went back up. Her ears perked back up. Her eyes glued themselves to the window, where a bird had hit the glass. She watched as the bird landed on the sill, disoriented and bumping into the glass.

Duke barked, springing to her feet. She barked again, the noise filling the bedroom. The woman jerked and rolled onto her back.

"Duuuke…Shut up."

The dog keened, ears flattening briefly before rising again at the bird, which had been dazed by the hit and kept banging against the window. She started barking again. The woman sat up on one elbow, glaring at Master in a way that Duke didn't appreciate. She reached out and nudged him.

"Make your dog shut up."

He groaned, shifting. "Duke, shut up."

Duke barked again at the dog.

"There."

"She's still barking."

"I told her to shut up. Not my fault she's disobedient."

"Leon—"

"Tifa—"

Duke continued to bark. The bird fell off the sill…or flew away…the dog couldn't tell. She only knew the bird was gone, disappeared. She stopped barking.

"There…happy?" He mumbled.

Duke looked at him, tail swishing, and plodded up the bed, licking at his arm again.

"Ah, ah, Duke, no." He scolded.

Keening again, she gave a little huff and lay back down on the mattress.

"It's nearly four." The woman said. "The meeting is at six."

Master groaned, "We should get up."

A pause.

"You first."

Neither moved.

Happy to be back where everybody else was, Duke got comfortable and went back to sleep.

The apartment fell quiet again.

Until another bird hit the window.

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N:** I'll be taking prompts for this one. So please let me know what you'd like to see! They can stay with the Alliance-verse I've set up, or they can be straight canon. Please keep it to two per review, and just to warn you, there will be no slobbery, gushy, make out scenes. A turn for the romantic does not imply a swan dive. I'm ready to get this ball rolling.

Happy Holidays!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are Duke and McCallister. These ditties will probably be a little longer than the ditties of my past collection, so that I can adequately respond to requests. Thank you for the first round of prompts! Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**102 – Public Opinion**

_For Fantasy0Girl_

"One gallon of chocolate. One gallon of strawberry." The lady behind the register chuckled. "What'd you do this time?"

Leon exhaled, handing the older woman the munny.

The clerk cashed it in and bagged the cartons. "Ain't no man ever bought this much ice cream unless he said the wrong words, did the wrong thing, or stared at the wrong—"

"Thank you." He took the bags, waved away the change, and left without another word.

"That was a little presumptuous." The manager said, leaning out of his office.

"No it wasn't." Wedge stepped up to the counter with his own purchases.

The clerk giggled, scanning the items. "Bless him."

The manager blinked, "What's wrong with a man buying ice cream?"

Wedge and the clerk exchanged a look.

"He's new." The clerk answered, then to the manager. "Did that look like the kind of guy who could or would plow through two gallons of that stuff?"

"Ice cream has a mystical power over women." Wedge said, paying the clerk. "It's the duct tape that men use to fix the anger section of the female brain."

"So…his wife then?" The manager lifted an eyebrow.

Both the clerk and Wedge laughed at that.

"Honey," The woman smiled, "You're new, so I'll tell you what you need to know about life in Radiant Garden. One: stay out of the Old District after dark. Two: the bigger the sword, the more you should stay away from the person holding it. Three: the only people in the Alliance who don't think that Leon and Tifa are good together are Leon and Tifa."

Wedge snickered at the manager's confused expression, "Can you imagine? Missions with them as partners are impossible enough."

"Does…everyone think this?" The manager gave an absent gesture.

"It's hard not to." The clerk shrugged. "You get used to seeing one with the other."

"They're like opposite sides of the same brain, dude." Wedge held his hands up parallel. "They work together. They live together. They run missions together. They just aren't…together."

"Oh, but their kids would be beautiful." The older woman sighed.

"And terrors." Wedge mumbled, taking his bags and leaving the store.

"We've got a pool going." The clerk informed the poor manager. "The guys at the spare parts store are mostly betting on next year, and the lady who runs the bakery swears it'll be before the holidays. My munny is on this summer."

"Next summer what?" The man said, utterly confused.

"That they'll 'fess up and hook up." The woman shook her head, as though he was slow. "My goodness, sir, get with the picture."

**..:-X-:..**

**103 – Homecoming**

_For raiko. EXE_

The crowd was too thick for Moses to part, much less Tifa with her one satchel. The Allied hangar in Radiant Garden was always packed and chaotic when a squad came back from a mission. Only she and twelve others had been deployed for the latest raid against the Heartless, but it had been more intense than more recent attacks. Two of her squad had been killed. Three were severely wounded. Not good.

But the seven who walked themselves off the Gummi excited the people still.

They pressed in, waving and calling and holding signs with names to attract their returned heroes, sons, daughters, what have you. Tifa slipped through them for the most part, eventually finding a clearing and ducking through. They could celebrate without her.

"Tifa!" Private Tabaeus McCallister suddenly appeared at her side.

"McCallister—" Tifa replied.

"Good to have you back!" Another soldier called, patting her shoulder as she walked by.

"Thanks—" She managed to respond, escaping the congratulatory greetings from six other of the townspeople before she heard a dog barking and saw her name in ink.

LOCKHART. The letters were splashed in bold black on a white piece of standard paper. Like a chauffeur flagging their client down at an airport. No waving or calling or other wild gestures to get her attention. That wasn't how Leon rolled.

Instead he just stood there, outside the mess of people, holding the simple sign in one hand, just enough to catch her eye. Utterly deadpan. Tifa grinned and shook her head, making her way toward him. Duke was romping off somewhere; she could hear the barking.

"Lurking in a corner," She said when she was a few yards away, "Is that any way to greet a returning hero?"

"Why, do you see one?" He said, a smirk touching the corner of his mouth.

She threw her bag at him in response, still grinning. He caught the satchel in the chest and looked past her to the rest of her squad and their happy reception in the heart of the hangar. She glanced back as well. Three straight days hunting Heartless and staying alive, and they were all still running on pure adrenaline. At any given moment, the jubilation would break out and the two of them would be swamped by the troops.

Hands to shake, questions to answer, and the ever-present random information that the 'wizened elders' of Radiant Garden felt inclined to pass onto them: when all she wanted to do was—

"Let's get out of here." Leon finished her thought for her.

"Read my mind." Tifa said.

Narrowly avoiding the small group that was starting to look for their commanding officers to pull into the public celebration, Tifa and Leon slipped out of the hangar and into the adjacent working garage. It was considerably more vacant, though a few stragglers were loitering around the machines.

"Where—" She started. The apartment they shared was nearly across town, and the office was—an undesirable place to find some privacy to catch up.

She didn't finish her question as he abruptly stopped. They had found themselves on the passenger side of the old green jeep that Tifa had bought a few months earlier and had been set on restoring to working condition. The rusted, gutted, naked-looking vehicle was a sight for sore eyes. It had been moved here from the storage unit where she had left it.

Before she could ask, Leon had popped open the back hatch in the rear of the jeep. He tossed her satchel into the back and gave a wordless gesture for her to come closer. She narrowed one eye and obliged, seeing that the back seats of the jeep had been pushed forward and flat. Still without saying anything, he sat on the edge of the hatch and pulled himself in.

What the…was he hiding? He looked like a child hiding from the boogeyman…So maybe that made the crowd the boogeyman. Snickering, she climbed in as well.

"This is ridiculous." She said, "Hiding from them?"

"Not hiding." He lifted a hand, "Strategically evading."

"Oh." She said, playing along. "Hunker down until the crowd dissipates?"

He grunted in the affirmative, making sure no one else in the garage was watching them.

"You're so anti-social that it's almost not amusing." She folded her arms, but smiled appreciatively. She understood the aversion to being mauled by happy soldiers.

Satisfied that they had finally found some privacy, Leon leaned against the wall of the jeep and looked at her. He looked stressed out and relieved at the same time. It was becoming the normal expression on him.

"Welcome home." He said with an even look.

Tifa felt momentarily off guard but then smiled, "Thanks."

**..:-X-:..**

**104 – Couch Potato**

_For raiko. EXE_

After 48 hours of the worst stomach flu that Leon had had in recent memory, he finally dragged himself out of bed and into the living room of the small apartment. What had started as a headache and mild nausea had turned into full body ache and vomiting everything he'd ever eaten, rendering him nearly immobile for the past two days.

"Oh look. It lives." Tifa sounded a little too chipper from where she sat at the table.

He could only muster a pale glare as he leaned his forearms across the back of Tifa's ugly couch. He still felt like shit, but he'd never say that out loud. It had been Hell enough just hearing Tifa fret outside his room, even though she thought she was being sneaky about it.

"You look terrible." Always blunt. "Go back to bed."

Guh, the idea of being stuck in bed for another minute was not appealing at all. The clock on the wall read that it was half past six…in the afternoon if the sunlight in the window was right. He grimaced and staggered around the couch, sinking down onto it and slowly lying down across the ugly piece of furniture.

"No." He finally groaned.

He heard her sigh in exasperation and stand up. Not bothering to look over at her, Leon just lay on his back, feeling that one rogue spring in the couch pressing awkwardly against his hip. The cushions were lumpy and the upholstery was coarse and aggravating to the skin. It was the most horrid shade of salmon-orange that he had ever seen.

Leon rubbed his eyes with one hand, propping his arm against the back rest of the couch. Sometimes he thought Tifa kept it around just because it irritated him to no end. It had become a sick game of hers.

Cool glass nudged his elbow. He lifted his hand away from his eyes enough to see Tifa leaning against the couch, holding a glass of what looked like orange juice.

"Vitamin C." Tifa offered. "Stock up."

He grunted and took the glass, more to appease her than because he wanted the drink. "Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?" She just smirked, staying behind the couch.

"Like you're pitying me." He said, taking a sip from the orange juice.

"Oh, I don't pity you." She tutted, "But I'm going to make soup—"

"Don't—"

"And get a blanket—"

"Tifa—"

"And curl up with you—"

"I swear—"

"And watch a movie!"

"Stop it." He snapped, but there was no heat behind it.

He HATED being mother-henned. He was a grown man; he could take care of himself. Unfortunately, Tifa was a perpetual mother hen. He had to respect the effort she had put out in leaving him alone so far.

So he just lay there on her deformed couch as she went into full Fret Mode. At least this monstrous piece of furniture didn't feel like a bed. As long as he didn't feel like he was in bed, then he knew he wasn't dying…this time at least.

"I hate this couch." He grumbled.

"Yeah, yeah, it hates you too." She said from the kitchen.

But he made no motion to get up, and by the time she weaseled her way onto the couch with him, he couldn't remember why he had wanted to get up in the first place.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. These ditties are mine, as are Duke and McCallister. More lovely prompts from reviewers are answered! Thank you guys for challenging me on these! I hope to keep up this pace until I go back to school in two weeks. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**105 – Top Dog**

_XxOoSolanaSkylarXxOo_

"No."

"But she is beautiful!"

"No."

"She makes everybody around her smile."

"No."

"And she loves you."

"McCallister!"

"Well excuse me for stating fact." McCallister said, rolling her eyes as she followed after Leon, her arms laden with a large box of paper files.

"I'm not going to subject her to something this degrading."

"Aw…someone cares."

Leon groaned, turning to face the private. "Don't you have files to organize or…floors to wash with a toothbrush?"

"Sir," She exhaled, "She would blow away the competition—"

"I know that." He blurted out before he could stop himself.

McCallister pointed at him. "Then you admit that she's a winner."

No turning back now. He ran a hand over his face.

"Of course she's a winner, but…No." He waved her off as one would a fly.

McCallister didn't pursue him, but called after him. "She deserves better!"

When had the private become so brazen? Leon thought about sending her on a mission to Atlantica just to spite her, but Tifa poked her head out of her office, distracting him.

"Who deserves better?" She asked, her head sticking out of the doorway.

"Duke." Leon grumbled, "McCallister got this hairbrained idea that she should be in a…competition." He frowned at how ridiculous it even sounded. "Like a contest."

Tifa would back him up with this. Surely she saw how stupid this sounded—

"That sounds like a great idea!" Tifa grinned, "She's a wonderful dog."

Leon scoffed and walked into his office, grasping the door. "No."

"Nestor's father breeds golden retrievers as sporting dogs." Tifa input. "I bet Duke could whoop anything Nestor enters into the competition."

Leon glared at her, with her mischievous grin that said she knew how much he disliked the Council member. "I'm not exploiting my dog to show up that ass-hat."

He closed the door, alone in his office now. It was a dumb idea…

But it would feel good to finally beat Nestor at his own game.

(to be continued…)

**..:-X-:..**

**106 – Kiss the Cook**

_For raiko. EXE and __justagirl8225_

'Best wishes' from Disney Castle.

'Thinking of you' from Olympus.

Five or six 'Happy Birthday's from Radiant Garden citizens.

And one postcard from…Andrea.

Tifa ignored that one for the time being, reading over the other letters that others in the Alliance had sent her for her birthday, tucking them carefully back into their envelopes after she was done with each one. The warm words were meant to make her feel loved and all that, but after the grueling day she'd had, they just weren't doing the trick.

"Hey." Leon greeted as he walked into the apartment, closing the door after himself.

She turned around and noticed three things instantaneously. Firstly, the pot of chili that she had left on the burner was smoking. Secondly, Leon had gone pale like he'd just remembered something terrible. Thirdly, she was still wearing the gaudy Kiss the Cook apron that McCallister had given her as a gag gift. Clearly her attempts at cooking had gotten out.

And, if the pot on the stove was any indicator, she was still in the 'attempt' phase instead of the 'success' phase. Tifa groaned and moved the pot off the heat. "Great."

She stirred through the gloppy red mixture. A bubble of steam popped out of the middle of the concoction and she grimaced.

"So much for that." She looked over at Leon, "What's wrong with you?"

He had that _ohcrapohcrapohcrap_ look on his face.

"Er—nothing." He shook his head and when he looked at her again, his normal flat expression was securely in place. "What's with—" he gestured to the apron.

"Oh," Tifa looked down at herself, "McCallister gave it to me. She thinks she's funny, and…well, I could use all the help I could get." She looked back at Leon, who was hastily scanning the living room. "I figure wearing it would help me channel my inner chef." She lifted an eyebrow, "Why are you being weird?"

"I'm not being weird." He said quickly, "How, uh, how was your day?"

He was being evasive, but she was too exasperated to press him at the moment.

"Irritating." She replied, waving smoke from the ruined chili. "The order I put in for potion supplies for the town got lost in the paperwork and they sent me 500 rolls of duct tape instead. Then the power shorted out in the department and I lost the entire report I was working on. Oh yeah, it's due tomorrow." She ranted, shuffling through the mail. "Then my shoulder bag ripped, and spilled all of my files all over the place, but it was all right, because I had plenty of duct tape."

She gestured to her satchel on the table. Most of the underbelly of the bag was solid silver and some of the shoulder strap had been taped up as well.

"There was a raid on the residential district in my charge, so at least I got to beat up on some Heartless before reading this…disgustingly sweet postcard from Andrea, who's on her prolonged honeymoon in Atlantica. Prolonged, Leon. It's been two months!" She said, gesturing to the postcard, which had a posed picture of Andrea and her new husband on the other side, lit by fireworks and moonlight. Nauseating.

"Oh, that…that sucks." Leon said, moving into the kitchen. "Here, let me."

Tifa backed away from the pot, which she realized had bubbled and frothed all over the stove top. She ran a hand over her forehead and watched him pull on one of the horrid oven mitts that Tifa had bought as a gag gift for him last year. Partly because he was a freakishly good cook, and partly because it was one of those creepy mitts with a face on it, the hand part creating a mouth. Somehow they had never actually bought real oven mitts, so…they made do with the creepy-face oven mitt gag gift.

"Sorry." She sighed. "I doubt even you could save this…monster." She gestured to the chili.

He peered down at it, and she could practically hear his jaw fighting back a grin. "I think you're right on that one." He managed.

When Tifa did not look amused, he covered the pot with a lid and started to tug the oven mitt off his hand. He paused, looking like he'd gotten an idea better than sliced bread.

"Hey, let me make you a cake." He said.

Tifa's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

"Well…yeah…I mean—"

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You hate cake."

"I do not. That…thing…you made last week was NOT cake." He huffed, opening the cabinets. "Besides, you do like cake, so…chocolate?" He offered.

"Oh my—you're kidding me." Tifa felt a smile tug at her lips and she didn't fight it. "You forgot."

"What?" Like a deer in the headlights.

"You forgot that today was my birthday." She put her hands on her hips.

For a frozen moment, Leon just stared at her. Tifa stared back. The creepy oven mitt on his hand stared at the baking supplies in the open cabinet.

"Nnno, I didn't." He said, his lips barely moving. Then immediately, "Okay, I did."

"And you think you can fix that with cake?" She said, grinning and pretending to be mad.

Truth be told, the lack of lovey words and exuberant hugs was refreshing after the sugarcoated day from Hell that she'd had. While, yes, it sucked that her closest friend had forgotten her birthday, it was also nice not to go through that. Leon got weird around birthdays and holidays and general days of cheer.

"I can try." He said, as though taking up a challenge.

"Well, if you must." Tifa said, sinking onto a stool by the counter. "Who am I to say no to cake?"

Leon looked like he was trying to gauge her, like this was some kind of trick. Tifa untied the back of the apron, but didn't remove it. She massaged her temples with one hand.

"Sorry you had a crappy day." He said, resuming the cake making.

Tifa closed her eyes. "Thanks."

"And…sorry for forgetting your birthday."

She snorted. "It's okay."

"No, it's not." Even with her eyes closed, she could see him frowning.

"You're busy. I'm busy. Heck, I nearly forgot it was my birthday until I saw the date on my cell phone." She said, pushing her hair out of her eyes, staring at the letters on the counter.

"Yeah, well, I should have remembered."

She didn't miss the slight emphasis on the 'I'.

"Hey, I'm getting a guilt-cake. I'm not complaining." She cupped her cheek in one hand.

Leon just grunted at that and Tifa looked at him. "What?" She asked.

He didn't say anything for a long moment, just eyed her like she had two heads.

"What?" She sat up straighter, "I'm allowed to be crabby on my birthday. After the chaotic 12 hours I've had, I deserve it."

He gave a light shrug and went back to mixing…whatever he was mixing…she hadn't been paying attention. She took that as an invitation to continue.

"I mean, how do you honeymoon for two months?" She glared at the sappy postcard. "She shuns me into oblivion, then invites me to her wedding, where she humiliates me, and now she…what…wants to make amends? No." She fluttered the letters so that the card was covered up. "I'm severing ties. That two-timing, self righteous—"

Leon cut her off by swiftly reaching over and covering her mouth with his hand. The hand that wore the creepy oven mitt. Tifa stopped talking as the material covered the lower half of her face. She looked from the mitt, to Leon, and back to the mitt, whose button-eyes were looking in two different directions.

Satisfied that she was neutralized, he pulled back, but not entirely. His hand in the oven mitt sort of hung there in front of her face, as though he'd simply forgotten to move it. Tifa snorted and glanced down, only to read the upside down writing on her apron: Kiss the Cook.

Letting out a laugh, she looked at the oven mitt face and back at Leon. "Thanks."

"Er—you're welcome."

She chuckled and patted the oven mitt like a loyal dog before taking off the apron. Maybe she'd make a habit of wearing that when she attempted to cook. And maybe today wasn't so bad.

"I'm still sorry about forgetting your—"

Like a broken record.

"Cake, man, cake!"

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N: **Please keep the requests coming! These mini-challenges are refreshing. It's also been more challenging than I thought to move these two toward more romantic interaction. I combined two prompts in 106 because the ideas I had for them individually just flowed better together. Hope you guys don't feel cheated for that! This is my first time working with requests, so I'm learning as I go.

Looking forward to your prompts!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are McCallister and Jake. These prompts are awesome, guys. Please keep them coming! They seem to be getting more challenging, and I love it! Enjoy.**

**..:-X-:..**

**107 – Then Somebody Bends**

_For raiko. EXE_

Leon had seen these identical construction plans more times than he cared for in the past few years. Ever since Radiant Garden had been restored, the Heartless had always targeted the Bailey, tearing it apart. The Restoration Committee would rebuild it. The Heartless would tear it down again.

Tifa was sitting on the floor of the Bailey, looking at the plans thoughtfully. The temperature had dropped into the almost-snowing range since they'd been sitting out here, but if her bare arms were cold, she gave no indication.

"Maybe if we reinforce these columns." She was saying, pointing at the blueprints. "Then maybe an attack from this side," She swept her fingers around the edge of the drawing, "would spread the damage across the wall instead of taking a direct hit."

"Tried it." Leon said, looking at the plans that Tifa had spread across the floor; to look at it all at once at the scene of the crime, she'd said.

"Well…What about adding more support to the ceiling? I think the weight might be weakening the walls." Tifa pointed to another section. "It might be sturdier if we tried—"

"Tried it." He said. "There's always a weak spot and the Heartless always find it."

"Well then why bother!" Tifa abruptly stood up, running her hands through her hair in frustration.

He understood her exasperation. After so many years of rebuilding only to watch the Heartless, and now Nobodies, damage the Bailey, he was numb to the anger…mostly. He was used to the flood of frustration at the vicious cycle. Tifa was not. She marched away from the scattered papers and walked to the wall of the Bailey, overlooking the Great Maw.

With a sigh, Leon straightened. "Because it's home."

She stood with her arms folded, back turned to him, and he couldn't see her face, but he could tell she was frowning. "I know. I just wish…" She hung her head.

This was usually the part in the movie where the guy said something reassuring, brushed the tears from the fair lady's eyes, and hugged her or something.

"Yeah." He grunted.

_Your eloquence is astounding, dumbass_. He frowned.

Okay…so the whole reassuring thing was…not happening. Plus, Tifa didn't cry, at least not over something like this…not that he would 'brush away the tears'. That was stupid. But surely even HE could manage a hug…surely.

"So I guess you've rebuilt this place enough times to do it with your eyes closed?" She was saying, sounding slightly bitter.

Considering her mood, he didn't take her seriously on that one. As if thinking the same thing, she sighed, "I'm sorry. I'm just—"

"Yeah." _Again, master of words_.

Giving his head a short shake, he walked over to stand just behind her, gazing out at the Great Maw. Crawling with Heartless and Nobodies held at bay by the Security System. Feeling awkward but not knowing how else to help her mood, he moved his arms around Tifa, hugging her from behind before he could talk himself out of it.

She immediately straightened up, arms still folded, if now covered by his sleeved ones. She had been shivering, he now noticed, though as soon as the hug started, she forced the trembles of cold to stop. Okay…great…he was hugging her…now what?

This felt…incredibly awkward…but not uncomfortable. Leon generally avoided physical contact with people. They tended to get clingy once that barrier was breached. This was…different. Her dark haired head was just a few inches from his face. He started to wonder what would happen if maybe he—

Tifa was shaking again…with laughter this time.

"What?" He found himself asking.

"I'm sorry." She cackled, "It's…you're hugging me."

"Oh forget it." He leaned away.

"No, no, no." She giggled, pulling his arms back around her. "I won't laugh anymore. I promise. I'm sorry." One of her hands patted his and lingered there after.

She seemed to have lightened up a little at least…even if it was at his expense.

"Thanks." She said through a stifled laugh, though not moving away.

Maybe he could do the whole reassurance thing after all.

"Yeah."

The eloquence thing, he'd have to work on.

**..:-X-:..**

**108 – Battle of the Sexes**

_XxOoSolanaSkylarXxOo_

"Man came first." Jake Alms, self described ladies' man, argued.

Tabaeus McCallister rolled her eyes, "Rough draft. Woman: masterpiece."

"How do you figure?" Jake looked at her lazily, sitting across from her in the break room of the Allied Headquarters in Radiant Garden.

Tabaeus sighed, "Look at the Brigadier General Lockhart."

"I do…as much as possible." Jake gave a shit-eating grin.

As if on cue, Tifa walked into the break room. She gave them the obligatory nod and went to the kitchen area to fix herself a coffee.

"She's a strong, willful, smart, beautiful woman...who could snap your neck like a chicken wing if she wanted." McCallister tutted.

Oblivious to their conversation, or more likely ignoring them, Tifa spared them a look as she started the coffee maker, stifling a yawn. "McCallister, did those potions come in?"

"Yes, ma'am." The private responded.

"Oh yeah?" Jake said complacently. "Well, look at Leon."

Tabaeus saw Tifa's eyebrow lift slightly. "What about him?" The private asked.

Tifa leaned against the counter, "He's NOT a beautiful woman."

Jake groaned, turning to look at her. "I know that!" When Tifa's other eyebrow went up, he continued. "I was just explaining to our dear little Tabby-cat here—"

"I will cut your fingers off." Tabaeus grumbled at the idiotic nickname.

"—how Leon is a headstrong, decision-making, authoritative guy who kicks some serious ass with that gunblade of his." Jake finished with a grin.

The coffee machine beeped and Tifa poured herself a mug. "So…you have a man-crush or something?"

"What? No!" Jake smacked the table top. "I'm just pointing out men's superiorities to women."

On another freakish cue, Leon slipped into the other door of the break room, tugging out another cup for his own coffee. Tifa shifted aside to let him at the coffee machine, nursing her own mug.

"Speak of the devil," Jake chortled, "Leon, what do you think?"

"Who let you in, Alms?" Leon said flatly, pouring a cup of coffee for himself.

Jake deflated slightly and Tabaeus stuck her tongue out at him.

"Men versus women. Who wins?" Jake bounced back.

Leon eyed Jake, then Tabaeus, to Tifa, and took a drink. "I don't understand the question."

Jake spun in his seat to face Leon completely. "Who's better?"

Leon's expression didn't change. "You really want to bark up that tree, Alms?"

Tifa snorted, "There is no 'better'."

Leon nodded in agreement. "Invalid argument."

Jake balked. "What?"

"Everybody has strengths and weaknesses." Tifa shrugged. "Women as well as men. You just have to show respect to the opposite sex. Maybe then, when your hide is on the line, a woman will remember how you held the door for her and save you, instead of remembering how you ogled her chest and leaves you out to dry."

Tabaeus looked smug. "It takes two to make babies."

She shrugged, "Well, there's that too."

Jake glared at her, "Oh shut it."

Tifa left the break room with her coffee. Tabaeus shook her head. "Did you ogle?"

Jake turned wide eyes at her. "It's out of my control, woman! God just blessed her with an amazing set of—"

Hot coffee splashed down Jake's neck as Leon 'accidentally' dropped it on his way out of the break room. Tabaeus snorted with laughter as Jake swore, the hot liquid seeping down his back.

**..:-X-:..**

**109 – Sharp Dressed…Man?**

_For justagirl8225_

Tifa poked her fingers against Leon's back. "Gimme your money, punk." She said, in the gruff, low voice that she'd been using for the past three hours. It was starting to hurt her throat.

Leon looked back, saw her, glanced past her, and back to Tifa. "Well?"

Tifa followed his gaze toward the club, shifting the uncomfortable layers that covered her. "Not here."

"Randy?" A blond girl waved. "Randy! It's me, Starla! Where'd you go?"

"Go, go, go!" Tifa pushed Leon ahead of her. "Get me outta here!" She hissed.

The heavy men's clothing was cumbersome as she followed Leon around the corner. For three hours, she had been undercover in the secret gentleman's club that had formed downtown. The scar on Leon's face was too recognizable and too difficult to cover up, so Tifa had finally just opted to go undercover…as a man named Randy…Because there was no way in Hell she was dressing like the women who worked there. She still couldn't figure out if Leon had been pretending to be disappointed or not.

As she turned the corner, she momentarily thought Leon had disappeared into thin air. But then his arm shot out, hooking around her middle and reeling her into the box against the alley wall. A photo booth of all things. He quickly pulled the curtain.

"Did they figure out who you were?" He asked.

Tifa had lost her balance and landed across his lap, the horn rimmed glasses on her face going skelter across her nose. "No, but—" She pulled the hat off her head, untucking her hair from the knot at her crown, "They sure got…clingy." She shuddered.

There was a flash and both of them blinked, looking at the front of the booth.

Leon shook his head, "What does that mean?" He squinted, "Is that lip stick on your neck?"

"Shut up." She pushed his hand away from her neck, climbing off of him and sitting beside him instead on the small bench. "The guy we were after wasn't there. I just spent three hours being mauled for no reason." She shuddered again.

Leon regarded her with a flat look. "Mauled?"

"Yes. Guh, loony women in there—" Tifa shrugged out of the blazer she'd been wearing, reaching up the bottom of her shirt and loosening the bandaging that had flattened her chest enough to pass as a man. "I felt like a piece of meat."

The camera flashed again.

"Did they know you were undercover?" He asked, helping her pull the jacket off in the close quarters.

"I almost wish. Then they would have at least left me alone." She huffed.

Leon's eyes widened ever so slightly. "They were…" He choked back a snort. "They were hitting on you?"

"Apparently I make a good sharp dressed man." Tifa said, scrubbing the make-up stubble off her jaw…and the lip stick as well. "But I got the names of a few other Heartless-empathizers, so at least it wasn't a total waste."

"And they…tried to…make out with you?" Leon gestured to the lip stick again.

Another camera flash.

Tifa glared, " 'Tried' being the operative word. I got OUT of there as soon as they offered lap dances."

And Leon's mind was gone.

Tifa groaned and snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Get your head out of the gutter. Nothing happened, you freak." She loosened the binding some more so she could breathe. "I tricked them into playing Hide and Seek so I could escape."

"So…Starla is one of your admirers now, huh, 'Randy'?" Leon smirked like he was enjoying this torture very much.

Tifa punched him in the chest as the camera flashed again. "I'm going home."

"I hope you at least tipped them well." He teased.

"Go to Hell." She growled, climbing out of the booth.

The camera flashed a final time and the little tape of photos printed out in the tray. Tifa snatched them up, absently glancing down the pictures as she stalked off. She heard Leon about to explode from laughter inside, and even as she started grinning despite it all, she pocketed the pictures.

"Yeah, well, if we ever have to sneak into a strip club, you're going in as a new up-and-comer named Candy!" She teased back.

And that effectively shut him up.

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 107:** Title taken from the lyrics of Beauty and the Beast.

**A/N 109:** Title taken from the ZZ Top song, and play on words.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are Duke and McCallister. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**110 – Top Dog Part Two**

_For Fantasy0Girl_

"I brought nail polish remover, toothpaste, and hairspray." Tifa was saying, standing in the doorway of Leon's office.

The intern at the front desk in the hallway looked up at the odd combination.

"Just get in here and close the door." Leon grumbled.

Tifa sighed and walked into the office, closing the door after herself. The intern blinked, shrugged, and got back to work. He'd learned not to ask.

Duke lifted her head from her prone position on the floor, sprawled out on her back. Leon was sitting in the chair, rubbing her belly with his boot. One elbow was on his knee, and his cheek was cupped in one hand, watching the dog and then looking up at Tifa.

She grinned smugly and walked over, setting the bottles on his desk before turning on her heel, hands on her hips, eying him. "So…what happened?"

Leon exhaled, not moving except to stop rubbing Duke. The dog rolled around on her back for a moment before ending up back on her paws, tail swishing and tongue lolling.

"I thought I washed it all off." He mumbled.

Tifa eyed the dog. When Leon had called half an hour ago asking her to bring something that could remove dried glue, she had figured that Duke had gotten into something. The dog had been hanging around in his office ever since Leon had been persuaded to consider entering her into a competition…Only to spite Nestor, of course, but Tifa knew Leon never got into anything unless he intended to win it.

Looking at Duke now, Tifa could tell she'd been brushed very thoroughly. Her coat was shiny and sort of poofy, but there was no sign of any glue or places of where glue had made her fur lump together.

"She looks fine to me." Tifa said.

"Not her." He said it so quietly that Tifa wasn't sure if he'd even spoken.

She tilted her head and noticed again how he was sitting. "Oh?" She started innocently.

He glared at her and turned around, hand still on his face, looking at the bottles. "She got into the glue, but made more of a mess on the floor than on herself." He explained, "I cleaned it up, but…apparently not all of it."

Tifa lifted an eyebrow, "Spit it out, dude."

Leon frowned, but the back of his neck was turning red, as it did when he was getting embarrassed and annoyed. He didn't say anything, but shifted his elbow, pulling his thumb from his cheek…the only finger he COULD pull from his cheek.

Tifa hastily lifted a hand to her mouth to block the laugh that was about to erupt. He stared hard at her, daring her with his eyes to say a thing. She kept her hand over her mouth, taking in just how awkward he looked, like he'd been frozen while slapping himself.

"S-so." She squeaked, forcing her voice to stay level. "Let's t-try toothpaste first."

He said nothing as she picked up the toothpaste, unscrewing the top and squeezing enough out onto her fingers to make a lather.

"How did…I mean…Do I want to know…" She said.

"I'll do it." He grumbled sourly, reaching for the toothpaste.

"With one hand? I don't think so." Tifa started working the lather at the base of his palm, where the glue was loosest. The skin was pink and raw: no doubt he'd tried to just pull it apart by force before giving her that sullen call.

The paste worked well enough and Tifa managed to get his palm and two fingers free before he shrugged her off, getting enough wiggle room to peel the rest of his hand away. His cheek was red and angry looking at the abuse. He cursed and rubbed it with his other hand.

Tifa capped the toothpaste. "I also have papers about the next dog competition in Radiant Garden. It's in two weeks. They're still taking contestants. Forms are in my office."

He grunted noncommittally, squinting one eye closed as he made sure he wasn't bleeding. Tifa snickered and looked to Duke, whose ears were up and her eyes wide at the weird redness on Leon's face. Oh yeah, Tifa eyed the dog, she was a winner.

"That should be back to normal before then." She said, poking his cheek.

Leon swatted her away.

"So…was it glue sniffing?" She teased. "Because I've heard you can get addicted to that."

"Get out." He said, as close to a 'thank you' as she was going to get.

"I'm just saying," She said, as he ushered her to the door. "You're too pretty to turn into a junkie!"

(to be continued...)

**..:-X-:..**

**111 – They Call Them Weak**

_For kikofreako_

If Aerith's extra-wide smile today was any indication, it had finally happened.

The painfully-shy blond had finally up and confessed his feelings to Aerith, and her giggliness said it was mutual. Leon would be a liar if he said he wasn't happy for them. It was about time, he figured. Those two had been beating around the bush for years. Cloud still had his bad days, but they came less and less as he spent more time with the flower girl.

Leon and Cloud had always gotten on each other's nerves, for various reasons and differences of opinion, but the main reason came knocking on Merlin's door after everyone else had gone home in the wee hours of the morning after the news broke out. Because even though most of Radiant Garden knew Cloud and Aerith were as close to soul mates as things went, or whatever other way people talked about that stuff…somehow nobody got around to telling that to Tifa.

It had been raining earlier, but Tifa was completely dry when Leon opened the door to find her on the doorstep of Merlin's house. If the haunted look on her face was any indication, it had finally caught up to her. He bit back a grimace and opened the door completely.

"You're out late." He greeted with a sigh, "Come on in."

She didn't say anything, just walked past him…well, she sort of staggered. So far, Leon had seen her take this development with more elegance than he could have thought possible. She seemed genuinely happy that Aerith was happy, and Cloud to some extent. He didn't pretend to know how a woman's heart worked, but he knew that hollow look on her face well enough.

"Sit down." He offered. "Before you fall down."

She despondently sat on the patched-up couch against the wall. She was drunk, all right, but only enough to be aware of it. A beat of mildly awkward silence passed, and Leon cast his mind about to find something to say or do to make it…less awkward.

"What's wrong with me?" Her voice was small and…broken.

In the next heart beat, Leon found himself sitting on the couch next to her, though he didn't remember consciously going to her. "Nothing." He said firmly.

When she looked at him, her eyes were dry, but if he looked hard enough, he could see a lake boiling behind her gaze.

"Then…why?" The alcohol had made her eyes glassy. "Why wasn't I good enough?"

So maybe she was drunker than he thought, if she was this low. And he had nothing to say. There weren't words to make this better. There was no way to make 'sorry he didn't pick you' sound comforting. Well…what did she want to hear?

"You…" He paused, digging deep. "You deserve to be with someone who will make…who won't hurt you. Who thinks…who sees how amazing you are. Maybe—"

Her mouth was on his then, nearly pushing him back into the couch. Leon floundered slightly, taken aback. She tasted like whiskey and her kiss was off-center and shaky. She hadn't been planning on doing this. He regained himself and grasped her biceps, sliding her up and away, to break the liplock.

"Tifa, wait a minute." He said, slightly breathless. "You're upset and—"

"Oh God." Tifa abruptly sat up, hands on her face. "Oh God, I'm sorry. I didn't—dammit, I'm screwing EVERYTHING up tonight." She leaned back, bleary and unsteady.

Leon didn't move for a beat, now certain as Hell that he had no idea what to do. Tifa stared determinedly at the coffee table's edge, avoiding his eyes. She was drunk enough to not be embarrassed yet, but not too drunk to realize what'd she'd just done was…

Was what? Wrong? Over the line? Where exactly was the line with them?

Nope, he shook his head, standing, not going down THAT train of thought. Not tonight.

"Come on, you're staying here tonight." He said, offering a hand.

She looked at him tiredly but didn't move.

"No one else is here. You can't walk home like this." He said, glancing toward the stairs. "There's a guest room upstairs. I'll…" He looked back to see that Tifa had curled herself up on the couch, eyes closed and feigning sleep, though the moisture gathering under her eyelashes gave her away. He exhaled, running a hand through his hair and looking around the living room.

"Sorry." She whispered. "For all of this."

Leon looked at her and leaned over slightly, "You're okay." He gently pinched her cheek and placed a brief kiss to her forehead, "Sleep it off."

"Thanks, Leon."

For what, he wasn't sure, but he got her a blanket…and then a beer for himself.

**..:-X-:..**

**112 – Anything You Can Do**

_For raiko. EXE_

Tifa pointed across the Ravine Trail, at the twitching shadow on top of the wall. "There's one."

Leon followed her eyes and spotted the Heartless, "You can't reach that."

Tifa huffed, "The one in Dark Depths was even farther away and I took it out with space to spare."

"That was level ground. This is different."

"How?"

"It's—" He gave an absent gesture, "—higher. Harder to hit."

"What, so you can hit it but I can't?" She said.

"Probably." He shrugged.

"Nuh-uh."

"You throw punches. I throw knives. It's different."

"I throw knives too. I could totally hit that, you sexist."

"Sexist—It's DIFFERENT!"

"It's just fifty feet away, one well placed Thunder Spell and you owe me ten munny."

"That's not fifty feet. There's no way it's less than eighty. Besides, I'm not betting you munny to hit that Heartless."

"Twenty then." Tifa put her hands on her hips. "And why, you scared?"

"Tifa, it's a Heartless." He paused. "Fine. Fine, a bet then?"

"My Thunder Spell against your crazy throwing man-skills." She taunted.

"WHEN I take it out, you get rid of that ugly-ass couch."

"Deal! Doesn't matter, because WHEN I hit it, you take my patrol shifts for a week!"

"Deal."

"Deal?"

"Fine."

She looked from the Heartless to Leon, "Why the couch? Why do you hate my couch?'

"I've told you a thousand times. It looks like you stole it from a crackhouse. I'll be glad to be rid of it when I win this."

"You won't win."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Then do your little spell and we'll see."

"Okay, I will."

"I'm waiting."

"Don't pressure me!" She barked.

The familiar tinkle and whoosh noise of the Security System made them both look up. The Heartless disappeared with a screech and a poof of purple as the small column of light swallowed it.

A beat passed.

"Twenty munny." Cid said, walking up behind them.

They both turned and looked at him, smoking against the wall.

"My system." He pointed when they didn't say anything. "I win."

When neither of them responded, he chuckled and walked away, but he'd hold them to it.

"I still could have hit it before you did."

"Oh stop it."

"I could have."

"Nuh uh."

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 111:** Title taken from Standing Outside the Fire by Garth Brooks. I hope they weren't outrageously OOC in this one. I was listening to sappy music when I wrote it.

Still loving these requests! Keep 'em coming, guys!


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are Duke and McCallister. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**113 – Duke's Day Out**

_For kikofreako_

5:37 AM

Get up. Bark at the window. Get kicked out of Master's room. Probably for barking but…it was the window!

6:04 AM

The woman returned from outside, tired and reeking of Dark. She exchanged words with Master and disappeared into her room. The shower started to run and Master left. Duke followed.

6:17 AM

Master went into that tall building. Duke didn't follow, splitting off to go into the Marketplace.

9:42 AM

Steal an ice cream from that dressed up duck. Salty but sweet.

11:28 AM

Take a nap in the sunlight on the cool rocks of Dark Depths.

2:14 PM

Play with the kids in the Borough. They chased her. She chased them. One of the merchants wheeling his cart threw a ball.

2:22 PM

Still chasing the ball.

4:19 PM

Saw a really flashy, bright blond retriever bounce out of the car of that man that Master didn't like. Nest—Nost—Nirs—something. Duke barked in greeting. The other dog turned up his nose, tail up in the air, and trotted after his master.

4:21 PM

Pee on Nest-something's car.

5:53 PM

Nobody looked up when she followed a group of soldiers into the big building. A few funny expressions followed her when she walked into the hallway. She didn't care. She knew where she was going.

6:43 PM

The white box that made food hot was beeping. The plucky little woman that Master ordered around sometimes pulled out the food and sat at the table.

"Hey, Duke." She greeted, tossing a piece of chicken to her.

Plucky Girl was okay.

7:11 PM

Spotted Master holding that talking stick to his ear, yelling at it. Duke licked her nose and trotted into the woman's office. She curled up beside the desk and took another nap.

9:39 PM

Spent a few hours in Master's office, chewing on the little paper wads that he threw off the desk. Chased that blasted little light that danced on the floor. Master was amused as she chased it all over his office. Something about that little black stick in his hand had to do with the light, but she couldn't be bothered to figure out what.

10:02 PM

Left the tall building with the Plucky Girl and ended up back at the apartment. Neither Master nor the woman were home.

10:24 PM

Finished chewing the lid off the dog food container and started eating the food that spilled out onto the floor. The woman came home and just sighed, sitting on the couch.

11:57 PM

Master returned home, tired and grumbling under his breath. Duke wove around his legs and keened, licking. He and the woman talked for a long time before the woman went to bed.

3:23 AM

Get kicked out of Master's room for barking at the window. Why didn't he understand?

**..:-X-:..**

**114 – ****Take Me or Leave Me**

_For raiko. EXE_

Eventually Leon ended the drill. The past half hour had been useless. The new recruits were hardly putting any effort at all. Or they were over-enthusiastic to the point of tripping over themselves.

"Are you kidding me?" He finally snapped, calling them all to attention.

Wandering eyes. Unbelievable.

"If you morons can't buckle down and give me one good day of practice, then stop wasting your and, considerably more important, my time and just go home." He barked.

Now all eyes were back on him.

Frustrated, he turned to walk away from the line, to give himself a moment cool off and pick his words wisely, when he noticed the terraced seating of the amphitheatre weren't empty. One lone body sat near the top row, forearms on her knees, watching. Tifa.

Suddenly it all made sense.

"Five miles." He ordered.

A ringing silence of stifled groans hit his ears.

"There are many women who serve on our force." He turned, glaring at the line. "They will win this war on their own while you idiots are gawking." He raised his voice a notch to keep their attention. "This is not the chivalrous thing to do, and if you can focus enough to, I don't know, KILL Heartless instead of stand there like you've never seen a woman before, then maybe when the time comes, Brigadier General Lockhart or Private McCallister won't accidentally shoot you in the balls on the battlefield." He drew a breath, "Now five miles."

The soldiers broke the line and started running their assigned miles.

Shaking his head as they ran, he crossed the landing and started up the stairs to where Tifa was slowly applauding.

"Stirring speech, Major General." She smirked, "I think you're getting through to them."

Leon stood a few steps down, looking up at her. "What are you doing?"

"I'm…observing." Tifa shrugged.

"No, you're distracting my squad." He pointed out. "I need them focused."

"It's not my fault they have raging hormones." She said. "I'm just sitting here. You want me to leave or something?"

"That might be a good idea."

She laughed. "What, so they can stop and stare during a real fight? If they can't focus in training, how can you expect them to focus during real battle, when there are a thousand things going on around them instead of just one hot body?" She grinned.

Leon wasn't amused. "Then send one of YOUR recruits to stand here and…be curvy."

He frowned at his word choice, but he could tell Tifa was getting a kick out of it.

"So you're not as pissed at the fact that they're distracted, more that they're distracted by me." She glanced back, watching his recruits run laps around the stadium. "Maybe they need even MORE distraction."

"No, they don't." He said, not liking the look in her eye.

"Maybe undo one button." She gestured to her shirt. "Or sit more provocatively. Some Nobodies resemble women to lure in gullible men."

Before Leon could argue, she had loosened the top button on her vest and crossed one leg over the other. She looked down at him from her seat with a high brow grin.

"You're not helping." He grumbled.

"You want to get back at me? Come lurk at one of my close combat training sessions. Those girls could use someone to gawk at so I can yell at them too." She said smugly.

Leon rolled his eyes, glancing back to his squad. They were still running, but more than a few of them were looking up the bleachers again. She might have a point. These soldiers were in their twenties going on fifteen years old. Only a handful was married, and even fewer had girlfriends. Well…they'd just have to learn some damn self control and stop thinking with their—

"I'm staying." Tifa was saying. "I need to observe weapon combatants from a distance to teach defense against them."

"Fine." Leon caved. "Just…take it easy, okay? They can't handle you."

Tifa looked like she was swallowing a smart remark, but shrugged. "Fair enough."

Leon turned to return to his troops, half of whom were watching. He took one step before Tifa reached out and smacked him on the bum. Pausing, he glared over his shoulder at her.

Tifa looked at him with a grin. "Just giving those kids something to think about."

**..:-X-:..**

**115 – Sharing is Caring**

_For __justagirl8225_

Biting the inside of her cheek so hard she nearly tasted blood, Tifa peeled back the scrap of cloth from her forearm. Still bleeding. The laceration cut deep, more deeply than both of them had thought, carving from the middle of her forearm to directly under her elbow. She couldn't even bend the arm without nails of pain hammering up to her shoulder.

The rancid smell of fish and soggy wood permeated the air, and she coughed, gingerly untying the knot and tossing away the makeshift bandaging. Leon made his way back over to where she was sitting, just outside the wreckage of the Gummi.

Fifteen minutes ago, or an hour, she couldn't tell, their ship had been abducted by an unidentified—oh shod it, you know what? They were swallowed. Swallowed by that beast Monstro. And it sucked.

"Found one." Leon said, walking like an old man as he reached her. "As far as I can tell, all of the others were broken in the crash."

He set the one surviving green potion bottle on the beam of steel beside her. Then he straightened up…well, as straight up as he dared, she figured, and looked around.

"The other wreckage in here seems pretty old. I doubt there's anything in here with enough juice to heal anything." He said, looking at her. "That bottle should be enough to heal your arm."

"Thanks." Tifa picked it up with her other hand, holding it between her knees as she uncorked it. "Did the signal go out?"

"As far as I can tell, your signal managed to beam out before interference cut everything off." Leon said, slowly sinking down to sit on the ground beside her.

Something was dripping farther down the throat of the whale.

Tifa eyed the angry gouge up her arm as she lifted the potion bottle. It felt like she had gasoline under her skin and someone had dropped a match against the red canyon. Blood was still oozing from the open veins, and just looking at it was making her woozy.

Steadying her hand, she splashed a dribble of the potion over the laceration. She closed her eyes in relief as the liquid worked its magic, stitching veins and muscle back together. It was only enough to close the deepest damage and take the teeth out of the pain. She was tempted to dump the whole thing over her arm until the skin was smooth, but she refrained.

Leon was playing tough guy, but Tifa had spent enough time growing up with Cloud to know bullshit when she saw it. He was in some serious pain, but he wasn't bleeding, so he thought he could hide it. By the way he was moving, or not moving, his ribs had to be killing him. While Tifa had landed on a jagged piece of broken control panel and cut her forearm, the bulk of the steering rig had been rammed into Leon's chest, pinning him to the seat until the ship dropped into the cavern of the whale's mouth.

"Drink up." She said, holding out the rest of the potion.

He grunted, waving her off. "No, I'm fine. Your arm is—"

"You're not fooling me." She held the bottle out farther. "I saw you slam into the steering. You've at least got broken ribs. Maybe internal bleeding. And who knows how long it'll take for the others to get to us…if they got our transmission at all. I'd rather we both had body temperatures in the upper-nineties when they get here."

He stared at her, jaw flexing in annoyance or pain. It didn't matter.

"There's a first aid kit in the ship." She said, standing. "I took enough potion to stop the bleeding. There's no bandaid for broken ribs."

He looked reluctant, but her reasoning seemed to get through that thick skull and he took the potion bottle, tilting it back and taking a moderate drink from it. Tifa saw some color return to his face and she stood, holding her arm close to herself as she trudged into the Gummi to get the first aid kit.

After digging it out, she stepped out of the ship and sat beside him again, popping it open.

"Better?" She said, wiping some of the blood away from her arm with the thigh of her pants.

Leon just grunted, offering her the last bit of the potion. "Here. I'm good."

"You're good?" She said, not convinced.

He grunted again and shifted in his seat to face her. "Let me see your arm."

She surrendered the first aid kit and her arm, letting him dress it up.

"Stupid whale." He mumbled, unraveling a roll of gauze.

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 114:** Title taken from the song of the same name from Rent. Musical muse this round!


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are Duke, McCallister, and the recruits. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**116 – Top Dog Part Three**

_For The Glaistig_

The loud crash of something breaking made Tifa cringe. Leon had asked her to take Duke to the dog competition across town, since he had a meeting and would meet them there. While Duke was not an out of control dog, she definitely only took orders from Leon. Tifa was painfully learning this fact as she tried to get Duke first on a leash, then out the door, and then to navigate through Radiant Garden.

"Lady! Does this animal belong to you?" An irate shop owner was yelling.

Duke was barking over the commotion, even though a few nearby children were giggling and the adults nearby were looking disapproving. Tifa spotted the dog and the shop owner of the local antique store. A large red vase was on its side, broken in three pieces, red pottery spotting the concrete like blood almost.

"Duke." Tifa groaned, walking over to the dog.

"Is that your dog?" The man snapped.

"Yeah—well, no. I'm sorry." She said, grabbing Duke by the collar.

"That was a very old and unique piece of art, lady!"

"I know, okay? Sorry." She tugged Duke away from the scene. "I'll pay for it."

"Damn right you'll pay for it." He said, hands on his hips.

Tifa straightened, "Hey, I said I'd pay for it. No reason to be an ass." She hooked Duke's leash around her wrist and dug for her munny pouch. "How much was it?"

"Twelve hundred munny."

She balked, "Oh please."

Duke barked and tugged at the leash, not appreciating being restrained.

"Twelve hundred munny." The owner said staunchly.

Oh this was ridiculous. It was a big ugly vase and the world was glad to be rid of it. She swallowed the urge to verbalize that thought as she thumbed through the munny in her bag. She was almost running late as it was and was in no mood to deal with this guy.

"I've only got five hundred on me." She said.

"Then you owe seven hundred more." He pressed.

Tifa groaned and glanced away, spotting Leon not far away. "It'll have to be five hundred, because that's all I've got and I'm in a hurry."

Duke took her distraction as an opportunity and bolted. The leash popped off Tifa's wrist and the dog chased one of the kids into the store.

Or, she would have if, the owner hadn't grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and pulled her out of the store.

"No! Keep this…this animal," He hissed, "away from my precious antiques!"

Something about the man's tone must have triggered something, because Duke's lip suddenly peeled back. Tifa had never seen an aggressive bone in the dog's body.

"Duke," Tifa took a step forward, "Here, girl. Down."

The owner had also seen Duke's teeth reveal themselves, and he had snatched up a broom, holding it like a weapon. Tifa glanced over again, but had lost sight of Leon. Duke barked, but made no motion to attack. She was just making a show, Tifa figured. She bet the dog was just trying to make the guy back off.

Crazy antique guy didn't see this though, and jabbed the broom forward, looking like he had half a mind to kick the dog out of the way. "Stupid bitch." He growled.

Tifa kicked the broom out of the man's hand, grabbed his arm, twisted him around, and slammed him face first against the wall.

"Listen, you stupid bitch." Tifa hissed, pinning his face against the wall. "New proposition. You pay for this fugly vase yourself, and I won't tell this dog's owner that you just about hit her."

The owner groaned, "You're not—"

"No, she's not mine, but she belongs to a very close friend of mine, and he doesn't have my tolerance." She said, "Deal?"

"Deal." He whimpered.

Tifa shoved him hard against the wall and took Duke's leash. For once, Duke didn't fight her grip and snorted through her nose at the man before trotting after Tifa, tongue lolling. In their wake the owner was left dazed, muttering something about unicorns and a rainbow.

(To be continued…)

**..:-X-:..**

**117 – Contact Lost**

_For__ raiko. EXE_

Tifa stepped over the twisted metal frame of a bicycle and ducked under a sheet of broken drywall. "Leon? Leon, can you hear me? Are you here?" She called out.

The tornado had ripped through Radiant Garden just three hours earlier. The Alliance had sent a squad down to the old residential district where the damage was the worst. Leon had taken charge and broken the squad into four smaller groups to fan out and cover more ground. Tifa had tended to the industrial district, and was almost done with delegating damage recon to other squad members when the radio had crackled.

"Sir? Sir, please respond." came the voice of Private Harper Connelly, one of Leon's.

Tifa had paused at that, but signed off on the industrial sect and turned toward the Marketplace.

"Harper, what's your position? I've three people here who need help." Cooper replied.

"I've lost contact with the Major General." Harper was saying, then on the other frequency. "Report, I've lost contact with the squad leader. Repeat. Contact lost with Major General Leonhart."

That was half an hour ago.

Now Tifa was in the residential district, picking through the gutted buildings where Leon's recruits had last seen him. Victims were still being evacuated. Ambulances were stationed wherever there was a viable path to drive on. Rescue workers in bright yellow and soldiers in uniform were scurrying to and fro, carrying supplies and back braces out of the disemboweled homes.

Climbing through the broken remains of a garage, she peered through the new hole in the house. "Leon? Major General Leonhart!" She yelled louder.

Some debris shifted a few hours down, but too much for one person to generate. She'd moved away from the main crowd of rescuers. If Leon had dropped his radio or gotten stuck somewhere near the crew, they'd have found him by now, if Tifa knew Harper.

The buildings in the residential district were old and new, renovated and newly constructed, rundown and re-vamped. But they were all damaged now in one way or another. If it wasn't the Heartless then it was nature. Tifa huffed as she moved farther from the main group, calling out to Leon every so often, like Marco Polo.

Always looking for someone, aren't we, Tifa? She sighed to herself as she entered what looked to have been a very nicely decorated living room, now in shambles. A door was hanging open at an angle. She'd spent how long looking for Cloud? Now she was looking for Leon.

No, this was different. Cloud had been avoiding her like the plague, disappearing for weeks on end and leaving her to wonder if he was even alive or not…but he always took the time to say goodbye to Aerith…No, no, bad road, don't go down it. She shook herself. Besides, Leon was more likely…buried under a ton of debris and broken house.

Frowning at that, she stepped over an upturned couch and out into a scrambled back yard, where the wing of a Gummi Ship had landed. Funny how the idea of abandonment didn't occur to her anymore. Leon wouldn't do that. She'd made him swear it. She'd watch his back and he'd always be there. Sort of that unspoken friendship pact that kids on a playground make.

Whatever, it was working.

Still, there was that comfort in knowing that when she went back to the apartment they rented together, he would either be there or a note would be there for her. Asleep probably or the note hastily written to barely legible, but it was evidence of being there. That was enough.

"H-hey."

The noise stopped her short, and she straightened. "Hello?" She called back.

"Tifa?"

"Leon?" She gauged where the voice was coming from, skirting around the remains of a storage shed. Something was moving near the back of it.

"Over here." She saw his hand giving a little wave and nearly hit her knees.

She hadn't realized how anxious she had actually been getting. "I'm coming."

The back yard of the property was a nest of broken fences and splintered trees, and a riding lawn mower skewed at an angle against the shed wall. As she reached the shed, she knelt down to look under the mess where Leon's hand had come from. She grabbed the hand.

"Hey." She greeted. "I can't leave you alone for one minute, can I?"

"Oh, haha." He sounded strained, but otherwise all right.

Tifa glanced at the lawn mower, which she realized had landed pretty much squarely on his legs. "What happened?"

"Thought I heard someone in that shed." He said, shifting under the plank that had landed across his chest. "Something came unbalanced and this damn mower landed on me."

"The other person?" She said, lifting up the plank and moving it aside.

Leon blinked at the light, pupils uneven and concussed. "A cat."

"What?" She said, quickly running a hand down his neck and torso and finding no broken bones or open wounds.

He seemed disoriented. "It was a cat."

"Just your luck." Tifa smirked, surveying the lawn mower.

"I hate cats." He grunted, sitting up as much as he could.

Tifa spotted the broken radio and then marks on the mower that evidenced how he'd tried to get himself freed on his own. "Didn't think to yell for help?"

She nearly laughed as soon as she said it and Leon's exasperated expression only made it harder not to. To imagine Leon yelling for help was like imagining McCallister refusing a mission. Not going to happen.

"I think my leg's busted…or at least it feels like it is." He said, glaring at the mower.

Tifa crouched down and saw blood seeping through the knee of his pant leg. "Something not good, either way." She straightened, "I'll lift it up, you roll out of the way."

"I already tried—"

"Well, I'm not trapped under it. I might have an advantage." She winked and ruffled his hair, just because she knew it annoyed him.

His glare would have to be enough, because she could tell he was in pain, regardless of his Mr. Macho bravado. Tifa let her snickers wear off and gripped the lawn mower under the fender and behind the seat, getting a firm grasp and bracing her leg beside Leon's hip.

"One…two…three." She gritted her teeth and shoved at the machine.

Leon tensed but Tifa couldn't let up now that the mower was moving. She pushed harder at it until the center of gravity shifted. Leon got his elbows under him and scooted back out of the way, in case the machine toppled the wrong way and landed on the rest of him.

The wreckage fell to the ground, however, and both Tifa and Leon let out loud breaths of relief. It looked like the blades under the mower had dug into skin and muscle just above Leon's knee, while most of the weight had landed on his hip.

Tifa cast a quick Cura Spell over his knee and then moved behind him.

"Where's the squad?" He asked, breathing heavily now that it was over.

"Still getting people out across the district…What possessed you to scout this far off?" She said, shoving her arms under his shoulders and half dragging, half lifting him out of the rubble zone.

He started to swat her off, but ended up just letting her go, using his good leg to help push himself out of the hole while his other leg mended. "Nobody hit this house."

"And I'm sure that cat really appreciated it." She grunted, kneeling down so that they both sat heavily on the grass.

She let her arms linger under his shoulders and he slumped back against her for a moment before sitting up to catch his breath. She gave his chest a light squeeze and then retracted her arms. There, maybe they were even now. He pulled her from her own emotional wreckage and now she had returned the favor…only with a lawn mower.

Ah, it counted in her book.

Leon was on his feet first, stretching his back and testing out his healed leg. His bruised hip was bothering him, but if he could walk on it, he wouldn't want another healing spell, the stubborn jerk. Tifa remained where she was on her seat, glancing from him to the mower.

"To think, the mighty Leon, taken down by a lawn mower." She chided.

Leon rolled his eyes and looked down at her in annoyance. He offered a hand, looking away from her. She snickered and took the hand, pulling herself up.

"Oh I tease." She said, dusting herself off. "You're just so cute when you're annoyed."

He ignored her jab. Oh come on, he wasn't nursing wounded pride? Over her? They'd been through enough by now that pride and dignity had gone out the window between them.

"You know you like me." She wasn't sure what possessed her to say that, but it was said.

"No I don't." He grunted, but his tone was lighter now.

"Then you're just going to have to start." She chirped, "I just saved you from the lawn mower of death, so you're going to like me. You're going to like me." She repeated with a grin.

He paused, looking at her, all the humor gone.

Tifa stopped grinning, "You just got a really weird look on your face."

"Just." He lifted a hand, turning to go back to the squad. "Thanks for watching my back."

Tifa lifted an eyebrow, "Are you ok—" She cleared her throat, "Thanks for being there."

Maybe she hadn't gotten him out of the wreckage yet after all.

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 117:** Props to who catches why Leon got a weird look on his face at the end.

These prompts keep getting better and more challenging. Thanks guys! Super special awesome potato casserole for everybody who's reviewed so far!


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as is McCallister. More lovely prompts, enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**118 – Will Set You Free**

_For raiko. EXE_

"Hm…This is highly unusual." Hades tapped his chin, walking around Tifa, who stood in the middle of his 'office', fists clenched. "You're not due here for another six decades or so."

Tifa bit back the murky chill of the Underworld. Everything was so dank and dark down here. She had been in the Underworld before, but only for the tournaments, where there were at least certain rules to follow. Surely, even death had its rules.

"I didn't come here to…to be reaped." She said quietly, almost in a hiss.

"Well, I figured that much." Hades had that eerie, unpleasant grin of his, too much mouth and not enough teeth. "What brings you, sweet cheeks?"

"Information." She asked, steeling herself. "About the dead."

"Definitely my neck of the woods." Hades chuckled. "What, family, friends, old boyfriend, eh?"

Tifa kept her eyes narrow and her guard up. This snake never helped a soul unless he had something in it for him. "A woman."

"Oh ho ho." The lord of the dead's eyebrows went up. "Some swing one way, some swing the other way."

"Not like that," Tifa growled, fists clenched at her sides. "Rinoa Heartilly."

Hades drew up straighter, looking at Tifa sideways, as though in a different light. She couldn't tell if she had struck a chord or if he was sizing her up. Damn his poker face. She gathered her nerves back together.

"She's important to someone close to me. I want to know if she's dead or still missing." She asked.

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave, sister." Hades said, holding out his hands. "And what do I get outta this little tidbit of trivia that you're wanting?"

Ah, there it was.

Tifa pursed her lips. "My undying gratitude." She snapped.

"Eh, close but no cigar. How about a deal, yeah?" Hades tempted. "I'll tell you, but you don't tell ol' loverboy."

"Wh—" Tifa sputtered. "There's no 'loverboy'."

"Hey, I been around the block a teeny bit more than you, babe, I think I know." He lifted a spindly finger, "Now…deal?"

Tifa exhaled heavily through her nose, "Fine. You tell me if she's alive or not, and I won't tell…my friend."

Hades shook her hand roughly to seal the deal. His skin was clammy and had a weird electrical feel to it, like a low humming current. She took her hand back quickly.

"Rinoa Heartilly is still alive." He immediately let loose. "Out there and healthy as a horse. But, this is easily remedied." He pressed his fingertips together.

Tifa leaned away from him. "What?"

"I can…remove her from the equation." He gestured vaguely with his hands. "Open the door for you to—" He swung one hand down, "—swoop in and get loverboy."

"You mean…kill her." Tifa said, narrowing her eyes further.

"You say potato…" He shrugged. "Either way, you just gotta do me one tiny little favor and he's all yours."

"No." Tifa folded her arms, stepping away from him. "You won't hurt her, not for me, not for him. No deal."

Hades frowned, "Then you'll always be sloppy seconds to a ghost."

"He thinks she's dead anyway." She turned to leave, "I just wanted to know for me."

"In case she shows up on your doorstep." He taunted.

Tifa reached the door and paused. "Will she?"

"Hey, I don't write the story. I just give 'em all a happy ending!" He chuckled.

Tifa had seen the well of souls. She doubted anyone would call that 'happy'.

"I'll keep my end. I won't say anything." She grunted, leaving the cavern.

Hades didn't look too put off. This was a small fry deal, she figured. He had bigger fish.

That didn't sooth the sudden weight in her chest.

**..:-X-:..**

**119 – Hide and Seek**

_For justagirl8225_

Tabaeus McCallister looked up from where she'd been stationed for the past two hours in Major General Leonhart's office. An all-morning mission followed by a meeting with the Council had forced him to push most of his paper workload onto the private. It was eerie, being alone in his office, and she had almost been giddy to sit behind his desk. It was one of those big, wide, corporate desks with paneling around the sides. It seemed too…fancy for her superior, she thought, but who was she?

Nobody bothered this office unless they absolutely had to, so she'd worked for two hours in quiet and privacy. Until now, apparently.

Brigadier General Lockhart's office was directly across the hall from the Major General's, and Tabaeus had seen her share of why this was a good idea and why sometimes it was a bad idea…particularly when either of them decided to get mischievous…like now.

Lockhart had come back from a mission roughly half an hour ago, seeming inordinately springy and cheerful. She'd glanced into Leonhart's office, seen Tabaeus, winked, and slipped into her own office. Back to quiet and—

With a tuck and a roll, Lockhart ninja-ed into the office, like it was some sort of secret chamber she had to break into. Tabaeus lifted an eyebrow as the Brigadier General straightened.

"Good afternoon." The woman said with a smirk.

Tabaeus's eyebrow stayed up. "Good afternoon, ma'am." She looked at the paperwork on her desk and back to her superior. "The Major General is in a meeting—"

"I know, I know." Lockhart waved her off. "They just adjourned downstairs." She started scoping out the office.

"Ma'am?" Tabaeus asked, setting her pen down. "Do you need something?"

"Just a good hiding spot." She remarked offhandedly, turning in a small circle.

"A hiding—" Tabaeus frowned. Sure, jumping out and scaring someone could be a fun trick, but there were certain people who would probably accidentally shoot you for it. She had always mentally put the Major General in that box.

"Yeah…oh!" As though she'd heard some super-human sound, she ducked under the desk beside Tabaeus's knee.

"Ma'am—" Tabaeus was starting to get exasperated. "Brigadier General Lockhart, I'm not sure this is—"

"It'll be funny." Lockhart patted her leg, hidden from view of the doorway. "Between you and me, he needs to loosen up anyway. Act natural!"

Tabaeus sat up straight, absently making the final marks on the last bit of paperwork. How on Radiant Garden was she supposed to 'act natural' with one superior officer hiding behind a desk and another one about to come up here and get pounced on?

Right on cue, the Major General walked through the door, and the private's insides twisted. She'd been an intern for Leonhart for two years before reassignment, and had been working under him again for the past six months…She could tell he was already suspicious. His back was straight, shoulders squared, eyes on her, but somehow scanning the entire office at the same time.

"McCallister." He said flatly. Beside her, Lockhart didn't move.

"Sir." Tabaeus straightened the stack of files. "I've finished the—"

He lifted a hand and she quieted, watching him walk into the office. He knew the Brigadier General was in here? Of course he did, he had that freakish instinct like that. When he seemed satisfied that no one was hiding behind the furniture or the door, he stepped toward the desk.

"Run a diagnostic on Enchanted Castle. The Council wants—"

Lockhart pounced then, moving out from behind the desk and in a full tackle before Tabaeus could process that she'd moved at all. She remained locked in her chair as the Major General, as though he'd anticipated this, side stepped the attack and made to put her in a headlock. Lockhart had none of that and twisted in the air, hooking one leg around his middle.

Tabaeus blinked, sighed, and stood, straightening the stack again. Both of her superior officers hit the floor, still grappling. She had heard of this 'strike without warning' training that some of the squads were using…but she didn't think it reached this high in the department…It looked more like wrestling to her.

"I'll get right on it, sir." She remarked, stepping out them and toward the door.

Briefly, the Major General pinned Lockhart to the floor, not looking up. "Good, McCallister. Dismissed. Tap out." The last bit was for the Brigadier General.

Her response was to skillfully reverse the position with a sharp elbow to his ribs. She wasn't a combat master for nothing.

"You tap out." She grunted.

Tabaeus exhaled, stepped out of the office, and closed the door behind her. She wasn't getting paid enough for this.

**..:-X-:..**

**120 – Auron's Two Cents on the Matter**

_For raiko. EXE_

That was definitely Tifa's Gummi, but she was nowhere near it.

"She's not up here."

Leon turned toward the voice, near the entrance to the Underworld. This guy had to be Auron, the swordsman that Sora and his friends had mentioned, a defected servant of Hades. And he'd just said…

"What?" Leon asked. "Who?"

"The woman who arrived in that." The older man gestured to the ship. "She's not up here."

That left…the Underworld. Why would Tifa in her right mind go down there alone? Not that she couldn't handle it, but was she nuts? Leon pulled his Gunblade out of the door of his own ship and stepped toward the entrance.

"Hold on." Auron lifted a hand, "She went down there for her own business."

"And I'm going down there for mine." He made to walk past him.

Auron stepped in the way. "And what is your business with her?"

It was a nosy, aggravating question, and Leon halted. "What?"

The corner of Auron's mouth quirked. "You look like you've got quite the story, kid."

Leon glared, but soon deflated. This man didn't seem aggressive, but he was delaying Leon from getting to Tifa, who had wandered willingly into Hades' midst, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out why.

"Who are you looking for?" Auron asked.

What a stupid question. Leon didn't have time for this man's nonsense.

Auron chuckled as though he understood what Leon was thinking. "I only ask because a woman like her won't be won by constant rescuing, especially when she doesn't need it."

"I'm not rescuing her…and I'm not trying to 'win' her." Leon felt his neck getting hot.

"Then why are you here?" The other man smirked, but immediately sombered. "Just because you didn't save the first one doesn't mean you have to save the second."

Leon drew up short, suspicion prickling at his shoulders. "What?"

"The Underworld may be a place of ruin and despair," Auron looked at him evenly, "But the poor souls always bring in knowledge of the world above." He remarked. "I've heard of you, Squall Leonhart, on this quest to find your lost love."

Rinoa. Her name still hurt to think it.

"You're looking in the wrong direction." Auron continued.

Funny, Leon thought Sora had said this guy was a man of few words.

"I'm not looking anymore." He replied.

"Then why are you here?" The other man asked again. "Because this sure seems like a quest." He nodded toward the Underworld.

Leon stilled. "You're confused. Tifa is not my—"

"Your story isn't complete. One chapter has ended and you're refusing to let another one begin." Auron cut him off. "You're still half of a whole, kid." Again with the smirk. "So is she."

There was movement along the path leading to the Underworld.

"Leon?" Tifa emerged, looking slightly pale but unhurt. "What're you doing here?" She noticed the other man. "And who—"

"No one important." Auron said quietly, turning and abruptly walking away.

Leon stood there, feeling like he'd been slapped in the face. Tifa tilted her head at him.

"I…Your Gummi signal went out over Olympus, so I—" He started.

"—thought you'd swoop in and rescue me." Tifa snorted, "I swear, Leon, you've got a Batman Complex." He could tell she was distracted, but so was he, so he didn't push it.

"Was that the Auron guy that Sora and the others talk about?" She asked.

"Yeah." He responded as they walked back to the ships.

"What did he want?"

"Just…gave me some advice."

"Like…"

Leon paused, glancing toward the Underworld. He knew what the swordsman had said, and it had a ring of truth to it that was both annoying and relieving. He made a mental note to search him out the next time he was in Olympus.

"Damned if I know."

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 118:** Ah, Hades. I hope I got his manner of speech decently. I haven't written much with him.

**A/N 119:** I think Tifa came off a little Yuffie-ish in this, but I was going for playful, and playful I think will always have a Yuffie element to it.

**A/N 120:** First time ever writing Auron, I admit. While I think I missed the mark on his 'words of wisdom' style, I think I did okay in his abruptness. This was written as a connection to 118.

Keep the prompts coming! These have been so much fun so far, and I'm really wanting to stretch now. If you've got a nice and challenging prompt, lay it on me. Thanks!


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are McCallister and Duke. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**120 – Breakfast in Bed**

_For justagirl8225_

A warm hand brushed over Tifa's shoulder, sliding the hair away from her face and resting on the back of her neck.

"Good morning." His voice was low and husky and she grinned, waking completely.

Opening her eyes, she blinked in the golden morning sunlight that was streaming through the curtains of her bedroom. She felt warm and fuzzy all bundled under the blankets. Leon was sitting on the edge of her bed, rubbing her neck with one hand.

"Morning." She greeted, shifting onto her side. "Something smells good."

"Well, I would hope so." He grinned, twisting in his seat and turning again to hold up a breakfast tray. "Tada."

Homemade pancakes, eggs, bacon, and a tall glass of orange juice.

"My, my." She shifted, sitting up. "Breakfast in bed. This is a nice change."

He placed the tray across her lap. "You deserve better than toast on the go."

Was it just the light, or was Leon looking extra attractive this morning? Feeling her cheeks warm up, she sipped at the orange juice.

"So what's on the agenda today?" She asked, feeling the stupid grin on her face and making no effort to stifle it.

Leon looked at her for a long moment and she returned the gaze, chewing on a bite of eggs. God, he could cook too…More blood to her face. His eyes were still on her, stormy blue, gorgeous eyes…Oh, who was she kidding, Leon had a gorgeous everything.

"Nothing." He finally said. "Whatever you want."

"I doubt that." She chuckled, "There's always something to do."

"I put McCallister in charge of everything for the day." He replied.

"And she was okay with that?" Tifa set the tray aside, sitting up completely, facing him.

Leon usually liked his personal bubble, but apparently today he was bending that rule, because he was totally up in her bubble right now. Not that she minded, but it was different from the casual comfort zone they typically established.

"You know McCallister. She never complains." He said.

Tifa smiled, "True, but what happens when—"

Leon closed the distance between them then, cutting her off with a tender kiss on the lips. Tifa was effectively silenced, her eyes drifting closed. She felt one of his hands light on her back, running up between her shoulders. After a moment, she leaned into the kiss, lifting her hands to either side of his neck.

He tilted his head and deepened the kiss. Tifa began to recline, heat spreading down her neck, but then withdrew from the liplock.

"I have a meeting today." She said quietly.

"Skip it." He kissed her jaw, working his way to her neck.

Tifa fought the urge to cave in to this. "I can't. I need to take a shower."

Leon chuckled, and she felt his breath across her collar. Her eyes drifted shut and she let her hands wander from his neck to his chest, broad and well muscled.

"Then maybe I can join you." He whispered under her ear, kissing her again.

Duke started barking.

Tifa's eyes flew open and she found herself lying in bed. No tray. No breakfast. No Leon. There was, however, a spot of drool on her pillow. Blinking, she rolled over.

"Hey, you awake?" Leon's voice made her sit ramrod straight, eyes wide.

"Y-yeah." She cleared her throat, rubbing her face.

Leon was tottering around in the kitchen, and walked past her doorway, toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. "There was an attack on the Bailey. We gotta go." He paused, looking at her, "You all right?"

Tifa scrambled out of bed. "Fine, fine. What about breakfast?"

"Here." He tossed her a piece of toast and finished tying on his boots.

She exhaled, getting dressed and heading out the door after him. Dreaming? Fantasizing? About Leon? What the Hell was that all about? She shook her head to clear it and kissed her day off goodbye.

**..:-X-:..**

**121 – Trustworthy**

_For kikofreako_

"I got two words for you! Know. Your. Enemy!" The little goatman was saying.

"THIS is NOT an ENEMY!" Tifa said, emphasizing her words as she punched and kicked through the swiveling pots and baskets that were mocking her on the training grounds.

"It's the closest thing you're gonna get until you prove me wrong!" Phil barked. Then in a lower voice. "Dames. They think they can just fight Zeus himself."

Leon was a few feet away, looking over the designs that the people of Olympus were supporting for reconstructing the Coliseum. "You want to tell her that?"

Phil smoothed the hair between his horns, "I wouldn't mind to try."

One of the pots smashed into the wall above Phil's head. Broken pieces rained down on him and he turned red in anger. "Hey! You wanna watch where you're aiming?"

Tifa stood in the carnage of broken training pots, sweating and breathing hard. "I was."

Leon turned to hide a snicker and eyeballed the map, making a few corrections.

"You want to do this the easy way or do you want to do this the right way?" Phil said, fists at his sides.

Tifa stepped out of the training ring, peeling off her fighting gloves. "I've been fighting Heartless for years. I don't see what we're even doing here."

Phil's hand reached up and grabbed Leon around the collar, pulling him off balance. Leon was forced to bend down to the satyr's level. Phil promptly pointed between his eyes.

"This is what you're doing here." He said. "So this—" He poked the scar between Leon's eyes. "-don't happen to you."

Leon grumbled, swatting off Phil's grip. "You've made your point."

"Both of you's just sit down." Phil instructed. "You two have been trained to fight, and you fight well, I admit, but you're single minded."

Leon exchanged a look with Tifa, who folded her arms and stood beside him.

"You've worked in teams before, but not like this. Two people fighting on the same team is different and harder than three or more." Phil said, rounding on them. "You are the only one watching the other's back, and you gotta trust that the other's got your back. Now, Rule Number 43: Trust your allies."

Leon had the lurking feeling that the satyr just made these rules up as he went. Regardless, he was renown as the greatest trainer on Olympus, so that had to mean something.

"Now, to build trust, I've got this obstacle course—" Phil started.

"Not necessary." Leon lifted a hand.

"Yeah, I trust him with my life." Tifa shrugged, as if this was common knowledge, although to hear her say it, Leon was a little startled.

Phil's eyebrow went up. "Yeah? And what about you, kid?" He asked Leon.

"Of course." Leon said immediately. "She's saved my ass enough times."

"Huh." Phil put his hands on his hips. "And you've fought together?"

"Radiant Garden is the hub for Heartless activity." Leon said. "Yes, we have."

That was an understatement.

"I forgot who I was talkin' to." Phil gave an absent arm gesture. "Whoop dee doo, but I got one piece of advice for you: trust will keep you alive, but skill and heart, that'll win it." He shoved a thumb toward the training ring. "Your turn."

Leon exhaled, picked up the Gunblade, and walked toward the ring, where more of the swiveling pots and baskets had been placed. Tifa stretched her arms over her head and sat on the stone bench on the side.

"Aaand you, my dandelion," Phil sat on the bench, sliding into Tifa's lap. "Can eat your heart out." He clucked his tongue at her.

Tifa made a disgusted noise and shoved him off. With a bleat, Phil hit the ground, grumbling as he climbed back up onto the bench, sitting away from her now.

"Dames." He folded his arms and sulked as Leon took his turn on the training cycle.

**..:-X-:..**

**122 – Top Dog Part Four**

_For justagirl8225_

"They're on number 9 and she's 24. That's an hour or so." Tifa said, walking into the back room. "Why is she wet?"

Duke sat surprisingly still as Leon dumped a bucket of water on her, displacing the soap that he'd lathered across her back.

"She got into something. It was a mess." Leon said. "Hand me that towel."

She took up the towel and unfolded it while he got Duke out of the little tub. Duke looked like she was lapping up all of the attention and kept trying to lick Leon's face. She'd managed to soak most of him by splashing around in the bath. He avoided her dog kisses and took the towel, starting to dry her off.

"What's it looking like out there?" He asked, in the best act of nonchalance he could do.

"There're a lot of veterans out there, but some of them are a little…over the top." Tifa noted, "There's one crazy lady out there with a husky named Boo Boo in a pink bow."

Leon paused, looked at Tifa, and then to Duke. "I promise I will never do that to you."

Duke responded by licking his jaw. Leon spat the side and resumed drying her with the towel. Tifa got another towel and worked on the dog's hind quarters, letting Leon take the licking end of the animal.

"Oh, and just so you know, they refer to female dogs out there professionally." She said absently.

"What does that mean?" He said, working on Duke's fore legs.

"The judges are going to call her a bitch." Tifa said, as though to ease him into the idea.

Leon just grunted, moving on to Duke's shoulders now. The dog watched Tifa, tongue hanging out of her mouth, eyes bright. Tifa smiled and helplessly petted her.

"What number was Nestor's entry?"

"Blond purebred retriever named Anthony, number 4." Tifa said. "Judges liked him."

"Hmph." He grunted.

They toweled Duke dry and started brushing her fur out.

"Not bad for a stray from the street." Leon said, scratching behind the dog's ears.

Tifa peered toward the show room. "They're on 14 now. Moving faster than I thought. I can finish getting her cleaned up, you should clean up yourself."

Leon looked down at himself, soapy and more than a little soaked, and straightened, "Right." He picked up the bag he'd brought with him and went to another room to change.

"He's silly." Tifa told the dog, as soon as the door closed.

Duke's ears perked up and Tifa put the new red collar on her.

"But he wants to win this more than he's letting on." Tifa continued, "So…I know you don't like listening to me, but…behave, will you?"

Leon returned soon after in fresh clothes, not the casual he usually had. Maybe a few steps up the classy ladder, but not enough for Tifa to poke fun at him.

But she might sometime later anyway.

Duke was on her feet, starting to look restless from being cooped in the same room for more than an hour. Leon sat heavily in one of the chairs, but looked ready to spring to his feet at a second's notice.

"This is starting to feel really stupid." He said, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "We both have a thousand more important things to do than…this."

"True," Tifa sat beside him. "But how often does Duke get to strut her stuff?"

Duke yipped as though to back her up on that, and Leon smirked, watching the dog paw at a run in the carpet.

"Purebred, huh?" He said after a moment. "Y'know, I've never…I mean, Duke's not…"

"Trust me when I say, this mutt has more spunk in her than any of those thousand munny breeds out there." Tifa said, ruffling the fur under Duke's chin.

Leon only looked mildly reassured by this.

Number 20 was announced and over the screen, they watched the big husky with the pink bow trot out with his master, a careworn woman in a carpet jacket.

"Yikes." Tifa sat up, watching the case as the judges evaluated the dog.

As the remaining competitors between Boo Boo and Duke went through, Leon put the leash on Duke and prepared to take her out. He paused and looked back to Tifa.

"This is absurd. There's no—"

"Go." Tifa shooed him, chuckling at how nervous he suddenly looked.

"She's going to flip out when the cameras start flashing." He argued.

"Then let her go on a merry chase. It'll be funny if nothing else."

"You mean humiliating."

"Hey," She said, as he was turning to walk out.

"What?" He moaned, looking at her.

"Go kick Nestor's ass." She winked.

Duke licked his hand as if to say: come on, it's my turn! Leon sighed, hung his head, and walked her out. Tifa chuckled and watched from behind the wall.

(To be continued…)

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 120:** I had to do at least one fantasizing ditty, haha. I mean, Tifa is a woman after all.

**A/N 122:** There will probably be only one more installment of the Top Dog continuance. I don't want it to get old.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are McCallister and the recruits. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**122 – Vulnerability**

_For kikofreako_

"Dammit…" Leon heard Tifa choke. "Leon…Can you help me?"

She sounded as defeated, frustrated, and near tears as she had yesterday when she'd come home from the ER, shoulder in a sling, refusing to talk about the battle that had gone wrong to put her in such a state. She had promptly gone to bed before he could question the matter, but if she didn't want to talk about it, he wasn't going to press her.

"Yeah." He replied, setting the piece of the Gunblade that he had been cleaning on the coffee table. "Coming." He walked to her room, opening the door.

The sight of Tifa's entire bare back stopped him short. She was facing away from him, sitting on a chair in front of her small vanity table. She'd taken off the sling and had been in the middle of what looked like getting dressed when the shoulder proved that act impossible.

"I'm sorry." Her reflection in the mirror was red with frustration and her lips were pursed. "I was fine last night but it…my shoulder got stiff during the night and I can barely move it." Her other arm was around her front, covering herself.

Regardless, Leon had locked his eyes on the footboard of her bed. "Right, so you need help with—"

"I'm sorry." She groaned, hanging her head down. "I thought I could do it by myself but I guess I suck at that too."

"You don't suck." He remarked, "See? You got your pants on by yourself." He said, trying to sound teasing.

It worked because a small smirk touched her lips through the frustrated quiver. "Oh shut up. My bra's over there." She nodded across the room.

He glanced over at her before walking over and picking up the rogue undergarment.

"I—uh—threw it over there after the first dozen failed attempts." She answered his unspoken confusion.

He grunted at that, crossing over to her and standing behind her, uncomfortable for a moment. This was…going to be awkward…was already awkward…A hiccupping shudder moved through Tifa's shoulders and she dropped her head further, her hair falling in front of her eyes. Her body language said she felt even more uncomfortable than he did.

Clearing his throat, Leon shelved his own discomfort. She was the one with the wrecked shoulder and emotional…issue or whatever…not him.

"Here we go." He focused on the curve of her shoulder blades as he slid the brazier around her stomach, letting her move her unhindered arm through the strap.

He tugged the strap up over that shoulder and took the other strap in one hand, gently navigating her injured arm through the loop. She grimaced and he muttered an apology, lightening his touch and sliding the twists out of the material. She kept her gaze firmly on the vanity surface in front of her.

She was embarrassed at needing help, he knew. Having to be dressed like a child, he would hate it too. He shifted back to pick up the sleeveless shirt on the bed, giving her some privacy to adjust her…ample, uh, assets…so that the bra covered her when he turned back.

Draping the shirt over one arm, he gently slid the clasp together in the back and made sure nothing was sticking her. Satisfied, he unfolded the shirt and helped her maneuver her good arm and, more difficultly, her injured arm through the material until her head popped through the neck of the shirt. She wordlessly wriggled the material down to her waist and he carefully slid her hair out of the back of the shirt, letting it fan down her back.

She seemed a little more at ease now that she wasn't half naked. He tucked the tag of her shirt in…pet peeve…and glanced at the sling on the bed.

"Do you want the—" He gestured to it.

Tifa swallowed, avoiding looking at him directly. "No, I can…on my own…"

"All right." He nodded, then, "I was about to order a pizza, extra olives, you want in?"

She pushed her hair back, fussing with the brace around her elbow. "You hate olives."

"Yeah, but you don't." He shrugged, "And you look like you could use some olives."

The closest thing to a laugh that she'd made in 24 hours came from her throat and she turned, finally looking at him. "If you say so. I'd hate to be olive-deficient."

He gave her a thumbs up and turned for the door.

"Leon?" She said quietly.

"Hm?" He looked back.

She stood and picked up the sling, starting to work it around her neck. "Thanks…for helping me and not…getting weird."

"You're welcome…I think." He tilted his head, blinked, and went to order the pizza.

His odd response earned a chuckle from her, and for now, that was thanks enough.

**..:-X-:..**

**123 – Return the Favor**

The hand-to-hand combat recruits were down to four sparring pairs. It had taken half an hour for the other pairs to beat each other out, pair the winners, and go through the system of elimination that led to these eight remaining contenders. The stakes? The winner would get the rest of the day off while the other 23 recruits went through drills.

The other recruits…who were supposed to be watching the remaining contenders. The losers who were supposed to be learning from watching the winners. The ones…who weren't even paying attention.

"McCallister." Tifa sat back in her seat, a few rows away from the rest of the soldiers in training. "What do you see?"

The private, who was loitering to watch Tifa's combatants for her own weapons defense training, followed Tifa's gaze. "A combat squad."

"Widen your gaze." Tifa gestured, seeing what the rest of her recruits were watching.

The remaining four pairs of sparring pairs had become two; four recruits left. McCallister leaned back against the wall of her seat, glancing across the training grounds. Leon was sitting in a seat on the adjacent wall of the training building, watching the contenders and taking mental notes.

Last week, Tifa had sat in on his training session, watching weapons' specialists in order to better teach defense against it to her troops. Now he was doing the same thing: watching her hand-to-hands to teach his recruits defense against it. And her recruits were reacting just as his had…with no subtlety whatsoever.

McCallister snorted, "A bunch of girls gawking at the Major General."

Tifa looked sideways at the plucky little private, measuring her up. "You blame them?"

McCallister looked back at her, one eyebrow raised, "Sorry?"

"Any woman worth her salt would be ashamed not to notice a specimen like him." Tifa carefully concealed her smirk, trying to egg McCallister on.

She was a quirky soldier, and not prone to 'feely' conversation, as Leon put it. Then again, she had been his intern for a few years, so…his stuffiness must have rubbed off on her.

McCallister frowned, closing the notebook she'd been scribbling in. "And any soldier worth her brass doesn't look at her superior officer through such a…vulgar lens."

"Vulgar?" Tifa swallowed her snicker, keeping a straight face. "You think being attracted to someone is vulgar?"

"I apologize for the wording, ma'am." McCallister stood, "But the Major General and I are not equals as he and you are. I can not have an opinion on the matter."

The sudden formality gave Tifa pause and she dropped the teasing tone.

"And what matter are you speaking of…soldier?" She said, mimicking her syntax.

McCallister hesitated, frowned, and ran a hand over her face, closing her eyes. "Permission to be blunt, ma'am."

Tifa glanced over at her recruits, two of which were locked in the final sparring match for the win. While roughly half of the others in the squad were animatedly getting into it, finally, the other half was more or less watching Leon, or at least kept stealing furtive glances over there.

She was starting to appreciate how annoying that was. She looked back to the private.

"Of course, Tabaeus." She bobbed her head.

McCallister paused again, as though trying to talk herself out of what she was about to say. "Widen your gaze." She walked to the end of the row of seats. "The fact of the matter is that I can barely fathom finding someone who gets me like you two get each other…and I've tried, believe me." She swallowed, "Just…why are you fighting it so hard?"

Tifa stared at the other woman for a long moment. So much for 'feely' conversation.

McCallister seemed to sense that she'd spoken out of turn, dipped her head, and walked along the front of the squad, glaring hard at the ones with wandering eyes until the rest of the recruits were watching the final match…as Tifa figured she should be doing now too.

Feeling suddenly uncomfortable, Tifa stood and walked down to the training ground just as her best, a scrappy young woman named Holly Cape, won the final match, pinning her opponent to the ground. The losers hooted for her, though envy was in their eyes.

"Congratulations, Cape, you're dismissed for the day." Tifa glanced over to the bleachers, though Leon had left sometime when she was talking to McCallister. "The rest of you…five miles."

The recruits were all eyes on her now, about time. "Wha—"

"Ten." She said, hands on her hips, unsure why she suddenly felt so annoyed. "Now. Maybe you'll learn to keep your eyes where they should be."

As they started running, Tifa made a mental note not to goad McCallister anymore.

**..:-X-:..**

**124 – You Say Potato**

_For The Glaistig_

Tifa stared at the dish as she slid the fork out of her mouth. This was the third potato casserole that she'd made this afternoon and it was the third one that hadn't been burned black, soupy, or a really weird color. In fact, she pondered as she chewed on a test bite, it was almost…

"LEON!" She looked out of the kitchen.

There was a clatter in the living room and Leon was immediately in the hall, gunblade in hand. "What?"

"Taste this!" She said, gesturing with her fork.

Leon blinked, lowered the gunblade, and eyed her in disbelief. "What?"

"C'mere, taste this. I think I finally got something here." She said, waving him over.

"That's it?" He said. "I thought you'd been shot."

"Sorry, I was just excited…Shot? I'm in the kitchen. Not exactly a battlefield."

"You know what I mean," He waved a hand, "No need to scream, I was just in the other room, woman." He sighed in exasperation.

Tifa paused, then did a little bounce on her heels. "Okay, now c'mere and try this."

"What is 'this'?" He said, setting the gunblade aside now that he knew there was nothing life threatening.

"Potato casserole." She said, offering a fork.

Leon looked wary, and she couldn't really blame him.

"This isn't like the last few times." She said, "But…I've eaten my own cooking attempts so much that I'm not sure if I can recognize good cooking. I'm biased."

He knew she would only bug him until he caved, so she grinned as he just saved them the time and effort and took the fork, eying her suspiciously. Tifa grinned and leaned against the counter to watch the show. Leon scooped a good-sized amount of the fluffy golden casserole, took a moment to steel himself, and took a bite.

Tifa stared hard at him, trying to find a reaction. If she just cooked three casseroles that turned out not to be worth anything, she'd officially throw in the towel. Leon chewed slowly, eyes on the first casserole, expression infuriatingly unreadable. Oh, who took that long to chew one bite? Honestly.

"Well?" She pressed, trying and failing to contain her eagerness.

He looked from the casserole, to Tifa, to the casserole, and swallowed. "It's…"

"Good? Okay? So-so? Not bad?" She said, starting to grimace.

"…It's great." He said, as though conceding a defeat.

Tifa looked at him. "What? Great? Really?" She beamed.

"Have I EVER pretended to like your cooking?"

"No…you've been painfully honest."

"Well…there you go." He said, sticking another forkful of the casserole.

Tifa threw her arms up in the air like a human field goal. "Yes!"

"Congratulations." He said, taking another contemplative bite.

Triumphant victory had taken hold. "I am Tifa, Queen of the Casserole."

"Uh, Your Highness? Your oven's smoking."

"Crap!" She cursed, opening the door and pulling out the blackened dish inside. "I figured if I'd gotten the potato casserole down, I'd try my hand at green bean casserole."

Leon sat up a little straighter, eying the ruined dish. "I'm not trying that one."

Tifa sighed, waving the smoke away from her face. "Okay, so maybe I jumped the gun, but the potato casserole is good! Right?"

He smirked, setting the fork down. "Right." He eyed the other two potato casseroles that she'd made. "I can say I'm really surprised."

"And the condescension is appreciated." She chuckled, smacking his shoulder.

"Pleasantly surprised." He corrected, picking up one of the casseroles. "So now I'm going back to what I was doing before you nearly gave me a heart attack."

Tifa eyed the failed green bean attempt number one with a sigh. Leon followed her eyes and smirked. "Some things never change." He teased, promptly taking one of the casseroles with him back into the living room.

She watched him go and then got out another fork, tasting one of the remaining casseroles herself. Soft, fluffy, and delicious, not a hint of burning or bad combinations.

"Queen of the Casserole." She smiled to herself, ignoring the green beans in order to bask in the glory of victory for once.

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 123:** After the feedback I got from Take Me or Leave Me, I had to write the other side of it. Didn't turn out at all like what I expected, but…I think it's okay. And just to be sure, McCallister does not harbor any 'feelings' for Leon beyond loyalty as his subordinate.

Oh! While on the subject, I'd like to draw your attention to the lovely and talented Kiss of the Breeze, who drew Tabaeus McCallister, giving her a face for the first time ever! Here it is (without the spaces) h tt p: /danger-flammable. deviant art . com /#/d36t9np

Much love and pancakes!

As of right now, my poll for naming this pairing is still open on my profile. I'll be closing it soon though, so if you haven't voted and still want to, please do it soon! I'll post the results on my page after I close it next week sometime.

Lovely prompts, guys. Thanks so much! Please keep 'em coming!


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as is Duke. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**125 – Top Dog Part Five**

_For The Glaistig_

To Leon's surprise, Duke was well behaved through the flashing cameras and the judges prodding at her coat and her teeth. She licked one of them and kept trying to circle around Leon's legs, otherwise she stood still.

He was no dog trainer like Nestor's grandfather was. Nestor wasn't even on the floor. He was in the stands, watching his golden retriever Anthony trot around. Leon also didn't put Duke on a leash too often. The few times he'd tried it when taking her for a walk, she'd gone from zero to running so fast she nearly ripped his shoulder out. So…free roaming usually won out.

Anthony was a pure breed, even Leon could tell that. His hair was so blond and sheer that he looked like a canine Barbie doll. Duke's fur was more red-gold than blond. Maybe he was biased, but she looked more lively and healthier than the other one. However, the judges took quick liking to Anthony. He was poised and regal-looking…whereas Duke's tongue was lolling and her tail was flapping around like it was on a spring.

The only other real competitor that Leon saw was a lean retriever with curly hair that belonged to a middle aged woman. The dog…Barkley or Barnaby or something…had big eyes that were constantly looking around. The woman looked like she'd swallowed a lemon, but that hard exterior cracked a little when Duke unexpectedly barked, and a grin escaped.

Duke had that effect on people.

Tifa was somewhere in the stands, but Leon was trying not to look at the small crowd that had gathered to watch the dogs. He still felt silly for allowing himself to be talked into this, but Duke seemed to be enjoying all of the attention.

"Now for the Best of Breed." The head judge stepped out, a wiry man with bifocals.

Really? They'd survived enough eliminations to be in the running for that? Duke didn't look surprised, tail wagging so enthusiastically that it was slapping Leon's thigh. Her ears were up, watching the judge as he walked along the remaining contenders with an appraising eye.

Barney or Buckwheat or…Number 17…was shifting on big paws and the lemon woman held her leash more taut, keeping the canine in line. Anthony's trainer, a frumpy man who kept glancing over at Nestor, looked just as serious and by-the-book as Anthony.

The crowd looked far too engaged in what the wiry judge was doing, Leon thought. This was just a dog competition…Duke seemed to share the sentiment…then again, he doubted she knew what was going on…only that everyone was paying her attention. That was good enough for her. He looked down at the dog. She looked up, licked her nose, and wagged her tail.

The judge pushed his spectacles back up the bridge of his nose, pacing along the line. "Number four." He finally said, gesturing to Anthony.

A collective breath smattered the crowd. Inhales of cheers and exhales of disappointment, like a whoosh of air across the open space. Leon thought he heard a 'woohoo!' somewhere, but he didn't look around. The blond canine didn't move more than a tilt of the head and a swish of the tail as the wiry judge pinned the blue ribbon to him. Nestor was grinning like an idiot a few rows off the line.

The other contenders were led off to give the winner the floor. Well, at least it was over, and he didn't have to pretend to—He hated losing. With a frown, he reached down and unlatched the leash from Duke's collar. She licked his hand and barked happily at her freedom, romping around his legs.

The crowd was getting a little too enthusiastic now, and Leon nudged Duke's shoulder with his knuckle, wriggling through the people. She trotted along beside him, like that was where she belonged or something. Guess she did.

Leon wasn't sure what he had been expecting. Nestor's grandfather bred these animals just for competitions like this one. Trainers and pure breeding and statue-like temperament. He was just a guy with a mutt. Still, okay, maybe deep…really deep…down, he kinda maybe thought he could win it. That Duke could win it.

"Oh, what does he know?" Tifa had materialized out of the crowd like a ghost on his other side. "The guy looked barely thirty and he had bifocals."

Leon snorted and looked at her. "You're right. He's only a trained dog judge with nearly ten years of experience. I'm sure it was all a mistake."

Duke bounced on her fore paws and Tifa patted her head, "Second place isn't bad for an amateur."

"Second…" Leon hadn't even been paying attention that part. "Ah." He exhaled, kneeling down and scratching under Duke's jaw. "Second is for losers. You're not a loser."

Her tongue licked full across his face and she hopped almost on top of him.

"Nestor's going to gloat. You wanna get out of here?" Tifa offered.

"Let him gloat." Leon shrugged, standing and wiping his face, "Let's see his dog face off against a blood hound like this one did." He said, unable to hide a proud grin.

Tifa smiled, "Home then?"

"No," Leon looked at Duke, who wagged her tail at him, and then to Tifa, "I'm taking Duke to the park. She deserves to chase some squirrels after behaving all day."

"The park it is." Tifa bobbed her head as Duke barked at the word 'squirrel' and started bouncing anxiously on her paws, ready to get underway.

**..:-X-:..**

**126 – Simple Joys**

_For Lett_

There was something about the sound and the feel of stepping on dried leaves. It was a simple pleasure that Tifa took advantage of every autumn. A childhood habit. She and her scruffy friends would walk down the sidewalks of Radiant Garden, stepping only on the leaves.

There was no sidewalk in Radiant Garden, just bricks and cobblestone, but the crunch under her boot and the simple enjoyment was the same. A small smirk graced her lips as she left Merlin's house, the crisp, cool air greeting her.

There weren't all that many trees in Radiant Garden either, not since the war anyway. The Alliance was building on what the Restoration Committee had been doing: rebuilding and reconstructing, but also reintroducing trees and plants and wildlife to the rocky, charred and war torn landscape. So far, the grafts had been growing.

Still, not as many leaves as she would have hoped.

Tifa walked toward the residential district where the apartment she and Leon shared was. Her childhood friends had tried to devise the best ways to get the maximum crunch out of the red and orange leaves. Stepping on them with their feet, crushing them in their fists…but the winner was always making a massive pile in the park and jumping in.

Four kids scrambled past, chattering about this and that, but giggling hysterically as they trampled through the leaves that had fallen across the cobblestone. Tifa smiled at their antics, nostalgic for the time when the biggest problem she had was trying to prove to her friends that stepping on leaves made the best crunch.

Growing up with Cloud and the other 'urchins', as her mother lovingly called them, Tifa had learned a few things. Most of her friends growing up had been boys. The girls were too catty and obsessed with sitting around and talking than doing…anything. And until they were teenagers, running around and wrestling and having fun was comfortable. Then suddenly it was uncomfortable and the guys started acting weird around her. By then it was too late to make girl friends, not that she had been hurting for those but…

She huffed, stepping on a cluster of leaves and finding satisfaction in the loud crunch they gave her. The guys got weird and the girls got jealous…of what, she had soon figured out, but…Puberty sucked.

Not liking this whole reminiscing thing, she looked up at the transplanted trees. All had changed to colors of red, gold, and orange, drifting down to the cobblestone. Some were just turned, but some of them were dried and curled almost completely inward: the super crunch.

"Hey." Leon's voice came from her left.

She looked over. He was leaving the apartment building just as she was getting ready to go inside. "Hey." She replied. "Where are you going?"

"Patrol. You?"

"Sleep." She said.

He snickered at that, "Have fun with that."

"I intend to." She said, slipping through the door as he held it open for her, having just walked through it himself, only in the opposite direction. "You too with patrol."

"Ha." He stated flatly. "See you later."

She gave a little wave and stepped inside, glancing back after him for a moment. Maybe it was the haphazard angle, but she could have sworn she saw Leon step a little out of his way to put a boot on one of the curled up leaves.

**..:-X-:..**

**127 – Oh No You Didn't**

_For __WishingDreamer5_

"Now, you didn't get the traceable currency did you?" The one-eyed man said, sitting forward to go through the loot.

"Course not, boss. Just the gold bars, like ya said." One of the sky pirate's two flunkies said, bouncing on his heels as he tied the hostage's wrists together.

The leader opened one of the canvas bags that the two flunkies had filled with gold bars from the Radiant Garden local bank. Munny meant nothing nowadays, gold always spoke to people. Besides, the bankers were starting to track stolen munny. The two blithering idiots were lucky they had HIS brains to run this operation, otherwise, they'd be sunk.

"Good." He said, adjusting his eye patch. "Any authorities see you?"

"Nope, didn't trip no alarms." The other flunky shook his head, guffawing and obviously very proud of himself. "And only took one hostage, like you said."

The leader groaned. Why he depended on these idiots to bring in the loot, he had no idea. However, every successful pirate needed cronies to do the dirty work, carry the heavy stuff, what have you. He eyeballed the unconscious body on the floor.

"Idiots, I told you to grab a lady." He spat to the side, standing, "This guy's bigger than botha you's put together."

"He jumped us." One of them shrugged. "Jimmy managed to knock him out from behind, so we just brought him with us."

"Yeah, like ya said." The other bobbed his head.

The leader rolled his eyes, pushing the body onto its back with his foot. "Well, at least you knocked him out fir—Crap!" He jumped back.

The other two jumped, startled.

"What's wrong, boss?"

"Yeah, we think that's an ugly scar too."

The leader glared, eyes wide, "What did you DO?"

"We robbed the bank and took a civ." One of them gestured to the gold and the body.

"This is no civilian!" The leader fumed, "That's Squall Leonhart, you imbeciles!"

They both looked at him dumbly.

"Squall…"

"Who?"

"Leon!" The leader felt himself start to sweat. "The Restoration Committee? The Alliance? Were you dropped on your heads when you were born?" He grabbed up the frying pan that he'd found in the abandoned warehouse where they were hiding out in Twilight Town.

"Did we mess up?"

"Yes, you messed up! Big time!" He snarled, "You couldn't grab a child or an elderly person or even a woman…No, you went and kidnapped the most…the…this guy!"

"Uh…he's unconscious, boss. Unarmed…I don't really see the problem."

"The PROBLEM, you nit wits, is probably on its way to kill us all right now." The leader started closing the bags of gold. "Load up, we have to leave. We have to get out of here."

"What about…"

"No. We'll ditch him on the edge of town before we get out of dodge." He said, throwing one of the bags at them. "With any luck, our trail will be lost."

"By who? He's one man. Who's gonna—"

Leon groaned then, shifting slightly as he started to wake up. All three of the pirates froze momentarily. Then one of the goons snatched the frying pan from the leader and bopped him on the head with it, letting loose a girlish shriek of fear. Leon went slack, unconscious again.

"There." The goon said, "Hey…why don't we just kill him? Then he can't talk."

"That'll only make it worse. Oh, dammitdammitdammit, whywhywhy." The leader scrambled for their Gummi Ship. "Come on, get him, get the gold, and let's get out of here!"

He should just leave them here, the fools. If they loaded the gold first, he'd take off while they were busying themselves with Leonhart.

"But if we let him go…He saw our faces, boss."

He spun to face them. "It doesn't matter. If we turn him over with just a bump on the head, we might survive, but no blood, don't break anything. We just need to get out of here now."

"Why? Nobody saw us land here."

"Because the whole host of Hell itself is about to rain down on us if we just sit around and wait for her to catch up to us."

"Her—"

But it was too late, and they all realized this in unison as the warehouse door was kicked in, swung wide, splintering at the hinges, and Tifa walked in, shoulders hunched.

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 127:** I got this idea as soon as I got the prompt 'pirate' and I wrote this between the fits of giggles that came with it. Keep the prompts coming, guys! Ya'll are awesome!

Also, the poll has closed and the top two results for this pairing are: Hart-shipping and Lefa! So I'll be referring to them as such from now on. Thanks for voting! I've put up a new one regarding the full length Lefa (tee hee!) story that I'm planning titled _As the Sun Sets on Mushroom Clouds_. Check it out!

Lovely prompts as always!


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as is Duke. No affiliation with the movies or music mentioned in 130. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**128 – The Illusions We Keep**

_For Lett_

Tifa sat on the far side of the couch, knees pulled up, arms hugging her shins to her chest, eyes still as they stared at the jacket. The air conditioning hummed and the shower was running, but her ears felt fogged by her own thoughts. The jacket rested where Leon had haphazardly tossed it upon entering the apartment, complaining about the heat wave before marching off to take a shower.

She'd seen the jacket uncountable times. Leon wore it practically every day and she was with him practically every day. Black, leather, singed in a few places and shady patchwork where bullets had torn the fabric. Red wings on the back. Like bloody eyes glaring at her, mocking her, debasing her. _Coward. Liar. Pathetic_.

The moment she saw Leon after she left the Underworld, she knew she'd signed the death warrant of her conscience. Hades had flat out told her that Rinoa was alive, and she had flat out vowed not to tell Leon, the only person who mattered, that she was alive. She was flat out betraying him. And that small splinter of guilt had festered into a cancer, eating her alive.

He said he was done, letting go, moving on, done, but that was only because he thought she was dead. Tifa was letting him live in ignorance that his first love, the woman he'd spent a decade scouring the galaxy for, and possibly the love of his life, was dead. That he had let her down and let her die.

Tifa had told Hades that her friend thought Rinoa was dead just to lessen this weight that the lord of the dead had against her. Out of spite. Trying to convince herself. The truth was, she knew that Leon would fly across the universe to find Rinoa. She closed her eyes, but those two red wings were plastered across the back of her eyelids.

Leon had told her about the wings, where they came from, what they represented. He said he was okay, that he was done, but she could tell he wasn't. Leon didn't quit things, no matter how lost the cause was. He hadn't quit hoping that Rinoa was alive, and he hadn't quit trusting Tifa to watch his back…yet anyway…If he knew…

This was betrayal. This was no different than if Leon had known where Cloud had been when Tifa was searching for him all over, and simply chose not to tell her. Sure, Tifa had no idea where Rinoa was, but she knew that the woman wasn't six feet under.

Maybe she got a sick satisfaction out of it. Because…maybe…while he's ignorant of Rinoa's existence, he's still here. He's not leaving. Not like Cloud left for Aerith when he found out she had survived the Heartless Invasion. For once, Tifa wasn't second best, the runner up, the one left behind while the delicate flower was chosen. Leon wasn't 'with' Tifa, but, at least for the moment, he was choosing her. Maybe out of necessity, but he had chosen her.

Tifa opened her eyes again, blinking back the burning moisture building under her lashes. Or maybe she was only fooling herself. Lost in the illusion that maybe, just maybe, she could win this time. If and when Leon found out, and he would find out, he wasn't one of the most powerful people in the Alliance for his looks, he would hate her. He'd be furious that she'd lied to his face for her own selfish need to be needed. The shower stopped running in the other room.

She was a monster.

The simple admission elicited a sob from her and she covered her mouth, practically cowering on the couch, not looking at those vermillion eyes that drilled into her in the form of wings on the back of Leon's jacket.

She couldn't do this. She'd made a deal she couldn't keep. This was going to kill her, this guilt. What right did she have to hold this information? But if she told Hades…what? What would he do? She racked her brains, but couldn't remember the consequences of the breach of contract. They hadn't even discussed it. God, she had been so eager to hear those words 'she's dead', that she'd practically thrown herself at the demon.

The ramifications of dropping her end of the bargain and telling Leon had not been verbalized…but it wouldn't be anything good…Hades might just up and kill her and Leon, because a vindictive roach like him would think of that. The only guaranteed way to keep Leon safe was to let him continue in ignorance, to lie to him.

_Coward._

"Tifa?" Leon had opened the door and noticed her melting down. "What's—"

"I'm sorry." She stood, letting her hair shield her eyes. "I can't—"

God, what have I done?

"Tifa…" He sounded concerned, but she ducked into her room and closed the door.

Hades was right. She was just sloppy seconds to a ghost. A ghost who wasn't even a ghost. A woman who was walking and breathing and searching for the man that Tifa couldn't bear the thought of losing…but she didn't even have him to begin with.

"Are you okay?" He was asking through the door.

Tifa closed her eyes and sank to her seat on the floor, letting the tears come.

She was a fool.

**..:-X-:..**

**129 – Like Sand Through the Hourglass**

_For Kiss of the Breeze_

As soon as all of the sand filtered through the point in the hourglass, Leon languidly reached over and turned it upside down. And the process began again. It wasn't a real 'hour'-glass by any means; it was too small, but watching the jade-colored granules sift into the bottom chamber of it was oddly relaxing. Tifa was running late, which was an oddity, so he was waiting for her at the edge of the Marketplace, fiddling with this little hourglass that he'd found.

"Excuse me, son, but I think we're lost." An elderly man caught his attention.

"HE thinks we're lost. I KNOW we're lost." The elderly lady beside the man corrected with a gentle smile.

"Oh…" The man tutted, looking to Leon. "Either way, we're not sure where we are."

"Um…" Leon absently turned the hourglass over again, looking up at them when they addressed him. "All right. This is Radiant Garden—"

The woman giggled and her husband lifted a hand, "Oh, we know that much. We're not THAT lost." He chuckled. "We're looking for the Hollow Bastion Castle Library."

"It's where we first met." The woman said. "Fifty years ago today."

"Hush, Nancy. He doesn't care where—" The man attempted to stop her.

"Fifty years, Steve. I don't get to brag that every day, so you hush." She beamed.

Leon sat dumb for a moment, the sand filtering through the hourglass. He abruptly shook himself out of it and stood. "Well, the castle is actually—"

"Before the Heartless was even a thought!" Nancy regaled, "On a day with a sky so blue it hurt to look at…I was in the library being a bookworm and he was going to meet an old girlfriend to rekindle the flame."

"Here we go." Steve cast Leon an apologetic look through a helpless smile.

Leon stood there, feeling wrong footed but not having the heart to interrupt her now. Fifty years was a big deal, after all. Give them their bragging rights.

"He was walking past my table and tripped, catching on my handbag."

"She thought I was trying to steal her purse and clocked me right in the nose." Steve joined in on the storytelling.

Nancy laughed, "Love at first blood, eh?" She winked at Leon, reaching over and turning over the hourglass for him, which had run out. "Looks like we ran out of time, dear."

Steve snorted and shook his head, "It's been years since we've been to this world, so if you could point us in the right direction, that'd be real helpful."

Their ease was infectious and even Leon couldn't feel totally awkward. "Well, actually, the entire Hollow Bastion Castle is inaccessible…has been since the re-generation a few years ago." He gestured toward the Great Maw, where the Rising Falls used to be. He dropped his arm. "I'm sorry. The only way to reach the old library would be to climb—"

"Climb? Two old tots like us?" Steve put his arm around Nancy.

His wife pulled a camera out of her purse. "We'll settle with a picture. It's not every day you outlast a whole castle, after all." She looked to Leon, "Do you think you could—"

"Oh…of course." He took the camera, turning it over once before finding the power switch. By the time he lifted the device, the two had assumed the position: his arm over her shoulders and her head on his shoulder, like they'd been made to fit together that perfectly.

Leon focused the camera so that the castle ruins were in the background, snapped the picture, and handed it back to them. Steve took it and Nancy reached over, turning the hourglass over again, grinning mischievously. They thanked him for the directions—even though he didn't technically help—and the picture.

"So…have you been punched in the nose by a bookworm?" Nancy asked.

Whatever that was supposed to mean.

Steve sighed, "Leave the kid alone, sweetheart. We've bothered him enough."

Nancy tilted her head, shouldering her bag again. "I think you have. Good lookin' fella like yourself should have no trouble finding someone who turns your world upside down." She said, eying the upside down hourglass.

"Nancy…"

"Oh, I happen to recall you saying the same thing to that plucky little soldier girl who held the door for us…"

"Fine, fine…Thank you again, son." Steve offered a hand.

"Leon." He replied, shaking the hand. "And it was no problem." He smirked. "Thanks for the story."

As they walked away, he spotted Tifa just as she was making her away over from the Borough. She looked slightly winded.

"Hey, who was that?" She asked, reaching him.

"Just a couple on their anniversary. Fifty years, I think." He glanced back.

"That's adorable." She grinned, spotting the hourglass. "They leave that?"

"No. It was just…here." He shrugged.

"Huh." She reached over and turned the hourglass on its end. The sand started falling once again.

**..:-X-:..**

**130 – The Awkward Silence**

_For __WishingDreamer5_

The wild grab for the remote was so fast that Tifa momentarily thought they were being robbed. Leon had bolted for the thing like it was the last jar of peanut butter in existence. Still, his speed was hindered by the wild grab, and he couldn't change the channel before Tifa walked in, seeing the television screen.

"I'm flying, Jack!" The woman was saying, standing on the bow of a ship, arms spread out, standing in front of a man, the 'Jack' fellow.

Before Tifa could ask what the heck was Leon of all people doing watching THAT, he succeeded in changing the channel. Only this one was of a man and a woman standing very close in an old parlor of some sort.

"You should be kissed," The man was saying, "and often, and by someone who knows how."

Leon cursed, fumbling to change the channel again. Tifa smirked and closed the door, going to the table and opening her laptop. The back of Leon's neck was turning red, and she could understand the embarrassment. No grown man wanted to be caught watching that kind of movie alone…

"But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun." The new channel that Leon had flipped to wasn't helping.

While he batted at the remote to try to find a less…whatever…channel, Tifa wordlessly logged into the computer and opened the internet radio. Eventually Leon would give up and turn off the television…Then the silence would be awkward. She snickered and opened the radio in a new window. The station was in the middle of a song, but it sounded innocent enough…

"If I had the sun and moon and they were shining, I would give you both night and day, love satisfying…Feel like making…Feel like making love!" The band sang loudly.

Tifa quietly slid her hand over and closed the window, swallowing a laugh. At least it looked like Leon had found another channel, an old movie in black and white. A man and a woman standing on a moonlit sidewalk.

"Hey, that's a pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon, Mary." The man said.

Another attack on the remote and it clicked over to another black and white movie, but this time it looked like a bunch of police around a man who had just been shot. Leon relaxed a little, and Tifa snorted, shaking her head and looking at her computer screen again.

Silence filled the apartment for a while, aside from the soft chatter between the men on the television screen and Tifa's fingers clacking on the keyboard. Leon's neck was still red, and Tifa thought it was hilarious that not only had she caught him watching a romantic movie, but how he had freaked out when she walked in.

An 'awkward silence' between Leon and Tifa was rare. They'd been in enough dangerous, uncomfortable, and flat out bizarre situations that 'awkward' sort of fell on the way side. While Tifa found this moment amusing, Leon was sitting on the couch in a bubble that screamed "this is WEIRD!"

She recognized this movie, but for some reason couldn't put a name to it. They'd carted off the man who'd been shot and now just two men remained, watching an airplane take off from a strip. She stopped typing and sat back, watching from the table and trying to put her finger on where she knew this movie from.

Then she remembered and had to swallow a chuckle at Leon's luck.

"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Leon turned off the television, stood, and snapped his fingers. Duke stood from her curled position and followed him to the door, eager for a walk. Without a word, he picked up his keys, opened the door, led the dog out, and left, closing the door behind him.

A beat passed while Tifa stared at the door.

Then she couldn't contain it anymore and burst out laughing.

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 128:** Connected to 118. I had to write this after realizing a few loopholes in it.

**A/N 129:** Nancy and Steve are a pun on a Haynette that I wrote called _Only One Thing in Common_, in which Hayner and Olette drunkenly call each other Steve and Nancy. I don't know why…I just did XD

**A/N 130:** Movies referenced (in order): Titanic, Gone With the Wind, Romeo and Juliet, It's a Wonderful Life, and Casablanca. I also used "Feel Like Making Love", a song by Bad Company. For the sake of awkwardness.

Thanks for the lovely prompts! Keep them coming!


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are Duke and Jake Alms. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**131 – Hay Un Amigo En Mi**

_For crystal . flower .11_

"Si, Maria es tu hija…pero…yo no soy su madre. No soy Ellen! Soy la hermana gemela de Ellen!" The woman on the television declared, turning her back on the shocked looking man with the thin black mustache.

"Ellen…esta muerta?" He stammered, fisting his hands in his hair.

"Si!" The woman jerked her head to the side, eyes shut dramatically.

"Quien eres?" He demanded, looking angry now. "Si no eres Ellen…como se llama?"

"Me llamo—" The deep piano music set a suspenseful tone.

"What are you watching?" Tifa figured Leon had held that question back as long as he could before curiosity got the better of him.

"Eso es impossible!" The man on the screen bellowed.

Tifa sat half turned to the television, half turned to Leon, while sitting on the couch in the break room of the Allied building. "I can honestly say I have no idea, but I think—I think—That Jorge just found out that the cake is a lie."

"He doesn't look too happy." Leon said, tinkering around with something out of Tifa's line of sight. "Maybe that woman's cheating on him."

"Or she lost his lucky pair of pants." Tifa snickered, muting the set and adding her own dialogue as the woman's lips began to move. "How was I supposed to know they were dry clean only?" Then she dropped her voice lower as the man began to speak. "What will I do?"

Leon snorted and finished whatever he was doing, walking over and dropping into the patched up wingback beside the couch where she was sitting, looking worn out from the last patrol. On the screen, a teenage girl walked into the scene in tears.

"Oh here we go." Tifa sat forward, elbows on her knees and saying in a high pitched voice. "I heard everything! You destroyed my father's pants and now you must die!"

Jorge abruptly walked across the parlor and poured a glass of some kind of alcohol. Leon sat back in the chair, propping his legs up on the coffee table and looking ready to fall asleep. Jorge faced the woman and the teenager, lifting his glass vehemently, and before Tifa could prepare her own dialogue, Leon cut in.

"But first a drink." He said, as Jorge gestured to the teenager, who opened her mouth.

"How can you think of drinking at a time like this?" Tifa filled in. "This woman is a traitor and a thief!"

Leon lifted an eyebrow, looking at her. "A thief?"

Tifa shrugged as the older woman started to gesture wildly. "What I steal, I steal only because I love you! And there were diamonds in those pants!"

Jorge took a long drink and Leon filled in his muted dialogue with: "How could you—"

The dialogue was interrupted as one of the windows in the soap opera's parlor exploded and a man with a gun leapt through.

"Oh! Twist!" Tifa chuckled as there was an extreme close up of the shooter's wide eyed, overly dramatic, angry face. "I bet that's the jealous lover."

It cut to commercial and she snickered, "I really have no idea what's going on."

"I figured." Leon covered his mouth against a yawn.

Tifa stood and stretched her arms over her head. Her shift on patrol started in five minutes, not enough time to find out if the crazy gunman unleashed his wrath on the three people in the Mexican house. She surrendered the remote, though it didn't look like Leon would stay conscious long enough to need it.

"Go home." She said.

"M'fine." He grumbled.

Tifa went to stock up on ether and potions before heading out. "Well, let me know how the drama unfolds. I'm actually kinda curious as to who the gunman shoots." She tugged her gloves on and turned back around. "Maybe the teenager has—"

Leon was out cold in the chair, limbs akimbo, head askew on one shoulder. Tifa put her hands on her hips, shook her head, and took the remote back, turning off the television.

"Stubborn as a mule." She muttered.

She turned off the lights as she left the break room, closing the door after her.

**..:-X-:..**

**132 – Eat Your Heart Out**

_For ilovefetamorethanyou_

Jake Alms sat at the middle of the table, chair turned backwards, arms looped over the back of it, watching with rapture as Tifa chewed and forcefully swallowed the latest round.

"There." She wheezed, face red and eyes leaking.

"Ah." Jake pointed, "Check."

Tifa glared incredulously at Leon, who was sitting at the other end of the table, looking as miserable as she felt. Drawing a slow breath, she opened her mouth and Jake looked to make sure she'd swallowed the whole thing.

"That's fifteen for Tifa…Fourteen for you." Jake gave Leon a shit-eating grin.

Leon picked up another of the angry red chili peppers, elbows braced on the table, glaring at Tifa. "This is your fault." He grumbled.

"And I'm winning." Tifa replied, mouth on fire.

Both she and Jake watched Leon eat the whole pepper, probably trying to bite his own tongue off in the process, and swallow it. Jake made sure it was all gone, and sat back, exhaling loudly and popping his knuckles.

"Fifteen and fifteen. I underestimated you two." He snickered. "Either of you thinking of calling it quits?"

"Never."

"Another round."

Jake looked amused and set out two more peppers.

"I ran a bar for three years." Tifa sat forward, talking around a numb mouth. "I outdrank vodka with biker gangs." She said.

Leon wiped some of the perspiration from his forehead, since it felt like he'd swallowed fire. "I had my face sliced open by Heartless and had Yuffie for a training partner before you. I know pain."

Tifa glared and snatched up the sixteenth pepper. "I dealt with Cloud. Bring it." She bit into the pepper, chewing fast and swallowing hard.

This wasn't going to end well, they both knew it. Iron will and all, but neither of them wanted to lose. Jake knew too, but he was so entertained by it all that he could only laugh.

"Sixteen to fifteen." Jake drummed on the table. "You gonna let that slide?"

"Shut up, Alms." Leon picked up his sixteenth pepper and tried to down it quickly to get it over with. He nearly choked and it burned all the way down.

"There's a whole gallon of vanilla ice cream in the freezer." Jake taunted. "All one of you has to do is say uncle and that cold, frozen relief is all yours."

"Jake, if you don't shut up, I'm—" Tifa suddenly blanched, grabbing the nearest trash can and barely lowering her face in time before violently throwing up.

The sound of it nearly made Leon lose it, and he was in too much pain to gloat beyond a groaned, "I win." He stood and the world tipped. Steadying himself, he pointed to Jake. "Hold her hair. This is your fault."

"Mine?" Jake feigned innocence as he obeyed, tugging Tifa's hair back so it didn't get in the sick. "How do you figure—"

But his words were drowned out as Leon buckled over the other trash can in the room, the chili peppers making a fighting come back. Jake cringed at the sound of two people vomiting at the same time.

"I think I'm dying." Tifa groaned into the trash can.

"It burns even worse coming back up." Leon rebutted, bending over the other can.

Tifa grimaced at that and hurled again. "Never again."

"Draw?" Leon offered.

Tifa gagged, spit, and nodded. "Draw."

"Oh come on." Jake said, letting her hair go as she sat up and going to get the ice cream.

"SHUT UP, ALMS!"

He huffed and put away the remaining peppers, grumbling about being rude.

Tifa turned in her seat and panted, eyes watering down her cheeks as she opened the ice cream and picked up a spoon. "I could have won, just so you know."

Leon dragged himself back to the table and sank into Jake's chair, watching her take a bite of the ice cream and her eyes nearly roll back with relief. He took up the other spoon.

"Whatever." He dug into the ice cream as well. "Jerk."

"Bitch." She snickered as he sagged at the table after the first blissful bite of ice cream.

**..:-X-:..**

**133 – The Sea Weed is Always Greener**

_For raiko. EXE_

Contrary to popular belief, there was a considerable population of Land Dwellers on Atlantica. While the Heartless tended to focus on the underwater kingdom, the merpeople were getting savvy to maritime warfare, and the dark creatures had been getting more ambitious in their attacks on land lately.

So when Tifa woke up on the beach, she was only mostly surprised to still feel her legs. The adaptation/blending-in spell that Donald had secured around the world had…spared her. Spitting out sand, she rolled from her stomach to her back and looked down at herself. Okay…not completely spared…She was still wearing this frilly maroon dress and her hair was pinned in a painful updo.

Wiping sand from herself, she got to her feet, staggering slightly in the heeled shoes that she found herself in, and looked around the beach. The little village lay inland, just visible over the large rocks and slopes that dotted the shoreline.

"Leon?" She called out tentatively, looking toward the ocean.

If the spell had split them up, one to investigate land and one to investigate the sea, and she was still human—however oddly dressed—then that meant…

"What?" Leon's grumble could have come from anywhere. "Over here."

Tifa stepped toward where his voice was coming from and finally caught sight of him. Well, she caught sight of the top half of him, splayed across a rock like he'd landed there, and the top half of him was bare. And he was drenched.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" She tutted, drawing up to stand in front of him.

Leon pushed himself up on his elbows, looked at her, looked at the big frilly dress she'd been forced into, and then looked at her legs. His face fell. "Oh come on."

"Yes?" Tifa said in a non-presumptuous tone.

"Why are you—" He gestured to her figure.

"In a dress?" Tifa prolonged, knowing what he really meant. "It is a little bulky."

"No…you didn't change." He said sourly.

"Oh…did you?" She egged with a mischievous grin.

He glared, "I hate this place."

She leaned sideways to get a good look at the rest of him and get it over with. She had to bite her lip hard enough to bleed to stop the smile. "You…uh…you have a fin."

"I know." He growled, shrinking back on the rock.

"You're…you're a mer-man." Her shoulders drew in to stifle the laughter.

"I KNOW." He growled again, "Shut up. Why didn't you change?"

"I guess the spell wanted us to divide and conquer." She choked on a giggle.

"That's stupid." He looked up at her, "Switch with me."

"What? No." Tifa did laugh this time. "Who am I to question the spell? Besides," She patted him on the head condescendingly. "I don't think I could pull off the seashells look nearly as well as you."

"Bite me." He swatted her away, looking bitterly at the blue fin where legs had been just ten minutes earlier. "You look stupid too, you know."

"I'm aware…but at least I won't have to fight the Heartless through the art of song!" Tifa clasped her hands against the side of her face.

Leon splashed water at her. "We should have sent Sora, Donald, and Goofy again." He fumbled for the Gummi control box. "I'm not doing this."

Tifa snatched up the box, "Oh yes you are. We're already here. We might as well—"

"I'm a fish, Tifa." He said indignantly. "I can't fight Heartless like this."

"Sora did." She countered. "And he didn't have your six pack." She winked.

He wasn't taking the bait…Haha, fish, bait… "You still look stupid."

At least he wasn't outright fighting her now. "Really? I kinda like the bonnet."

"No. You look like Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman."

Tifa turned to traipse toward the town, "We'll rendezvous in five hours back here."

"And the dress makes your butt look huge." He called after her.

"Whatever, dude, you have a fin." She waved, sauntering up the beach as a string of curses followed her.

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 131:** I don't watch a lot of soap operas, and I've never seen a real Spanish soap opera, so I hope this was at least in the ballpark, haha. The title is from the Spanish version of Toy Story's "You've Got a Friend in Me", because the first thing that popped into my head when I received this prompt was Spanish Buzz.

**A/N 133:** Title from the lyrics of The Little Mermaid's song "Under the Sea". I apologize if this one was poorly written. I despise Atlantica in Kingdom Hearts II. I try to avoid it whenever I play, but testing the waters in this prompt was entertaining, I admit. Also, I know the first thought would be Tifa as a mer-person, but I instead went with the unusual and nonsensical…Because torturing poor Leon is fun. Tifa will get hers though, fear not. (wink)


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are Duke and McCallister. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**134 – Never Have I Ever**

_For raiko. EXE_

"Your turn! Your turn!" The little girl was practically bouncing in her seat.

"Okay, okay," Tifa held up her remaining six fingers. "I've never had a pet."

Both Leon and the little girl, her name was Tiffany, lowered a finger. That left Leon with four and Tiffany with five fingers still up.

Tiffany's eyes were wide, "You've NEVER had a dog or a cat? Not even a pet rock!"

Tifa shook her head, "Never."

"That sucks!" Tiffany tutted, and then looked to Leon, "Your turn!"

Somehow Leon had been put in charge of keeping an eye on the little girl while Cid searched the district for her parents. Tiffany had been all upset and crying and…Hell, he didn't know how to handle that. So he'd roped Tifa into helping him babysit and had found her to be a catalyst for calm in the younger girl.

She'd sat her down, hugged her, said those comforting things that Leon could never quite come up with, and soothed away the tears like an older sister. Then she'd started this whole campaign to take Tiffany's mind off the ordeal with games…of the preteen sleepover variety.

"Okay…" He frowned. Tifa was enjoying this too much, and she was two fingers ahead of him. That wouldn't do. "I've never had my ears pierced."

Tifa sighed, lowering one finger while Tiffany did the same.

"My turn!" The girl said in a singsong voice. "Never have I ever…kissed a boy."

"Oh come on." Tifa lowered a finger. Ha, they were even now.

This admission nearly sent Tiffany into hysterics…for whatever reason. Tifa smiled at the girl's laughter and Leon rolled his eyes. What WAS it with women and…

"I've never kissed a girl." Tifa shot back on her turn.

"I would hope not!" Tiffany laughed, giggling harder when Leon dropped a finger.

This was a stupid game, he thought.

"I've never owned a bar." He snapped back.

She scowled and dropped a finger. Tiffany looked at her. "Really? With alcohol?"

"Yeah." Tifa admitted, looking like she was digging deep for a good one at Leon.

Tiffany took her turn, "I've never been in love."

The girl didn't burst into a giggle fit when both of them lowered a finger each this time, both of them down to two now. She looked…awed. And Tifa looked uncomfortable, though not half as uncomfortable as Leon suddenly felt. Playing a ridiculous slumber party game with a child was not a situation where he wanted to think about Rinoa, about the past.

And Tifa…well, he'd known her feelings for Cloud ran deep, but he'd never actually considered that she had been in love with the man. It made him further uncomfortable and bothered him more than he cared for.

"How…" Tiffany paused, looking from one to the other. "Are you two…"

"No." Tifa immediately shook her head, wrong footed. "Of course not."

"We're just friends." Leon added, unsettled by how quickly Tifa had replied to Tiffany's unfinished question. Not that he didn't agree with her…She and he weren't together…but the urgent tone she'd used to clarify that…kind of hurt.

"Oh, okay." Tiffany looked placated by that, "What's it like?"

Tifa suddenly looked like she was going to cry, but only for a brief moment. She gave her head a small shake, tossing her hair over her shoulder, and inhaled sharply. "My turn." She acted as though she hadn't heard Tiffany's question. "I've never broken my leg."

Leon was down to one finger now and Tiffany lowered one as well. "I did, a few summers ago." She said. "Fell outta my friend's treehouse."

"I've never…" Leon hesitated, ready for this game to be over. "Played tea party."

Tiffany giggled again, lowering a finger, "We should do that after this game—"

The phone rang and Leon lunged for it, seeing Cid's number on the caller ID. Thank the Maker…

"Yeah?" He answered.

"Found 'em. Both alive. Bring the girl over."

"All right." Leon replied. Stupid game.

**..:-X-:..**

**135 – Not Quite**

_For justagirl8225_

Tifa sat in the back of her rusted hull of a jeep. The threadbare upholstery of the seats, the torn and mangy carpet of the flooring, the back doors that were duct taped closed, and the back hatch that only opened when you pushed in, shoved it to the left, and then lifted: it was a shameful piece of machinery, but it was hers.

Who knew it would be her Fortress of Solitude?

She sat with her back against the right wall of the interior, legs stretched in a V toward the opposite wall. She'd found an empty paint can and propped it up there, acting as a goal for her as she flipped playing cards at it.

Valentine's Day was one of those well intending holidays that made people drink themselves into a stupor. More like Singles Awareness Day. Tifa huffed, roughly half of her cards missing the little paint can goal.

The office wasn't safe from the pink and ridiculous heart shaped cut outs and the smell of chocolate so thick you could FEEL the sugar on your skin…And people kept calling the apartment, trying to get a hold of her or Leon for some reason or another…

Frackin' ridiculous holiday.

At least, while hiding out in the jeep, she could turn off her cell phone and bask in the sweet silence of…being alone…Bah, she snorted, flipping open the white box that McCallister had desperately pawned on her. At least no one ever thought to look for her here.

The solitude was broken, however, as Leon abruptly stepped into view, pulled himself into the back of the jeep, and slumped against the right wall of the jeep like he'd just escaped the wildebeests in the gorge.

"Hey," Tifa quipped, "This is my hiding spot. Find your own."

He glanced through the plastic covering the broken window, saw no one following him, and turned back around. "No way I'm going back out there. Everybody's all…happy."

"Demented, s'what it is." Tifa pointed her remaining cards at him. "I've never seen so many balloons and heart shaped baubles as I did today in my life."

She opened the white box and the smell of sugary icing immediately ballooned inside the car. The little cake sat inconspicuously in the box, laughing up at her. Thank the gods it wasn't heart-shaped or Tifa would have speared someone.

"What is that?" Leon asked flatly, looking a little more at ease now that he was away from all the 'happy', as he put it.

"Jake Alms sent Tabaeus a cake." Tifa said, snickering. "She begged me to take it."

"He's—" One of his eyebrows went up.

"No, at least I don't think…Alms is a little—"

"He's a whore." Leon quipped, frowning. "She can do better."

Tifa chuckled, plucking out a plastic fork and carving a bite out of the cake. It was yellow cake, a nice change from the poisonous chocolate that had consumed Radiant Garden on this, the day of Valentine's.

"D'aw, you almost sound like her older brother or something." She took the bite of cake.

He rolled his eyes, "Jake Alms is a menace and if he starts harassing her—"

"She'll shoot him in the balls just like you taught her to." Tifa finished for him, chuckling, "Listen to you, all protective—"

"What are you doing out here?" He changed tact, gesturing to the jeep.

"I couldn't stand the 'happy'." She shrugged, plucking out another forkful of cake and taking a bite. "This stupid holiday is overrated and…stupid."

He grunted at that and leaned against the wall, looking as miserable and exasperated as she felt. Chewing thoughtfully, Tifa looked in the box and pulled out another fork. She poked his knee with it. He opened one eye and she offered up the utensil. He snorted, sighed, and took the fork.

"So while the rest of Radiant Garden is reciting soliloquies and making babies, two people are hiding in a broken down jeep eating a bribery cake with plastic forks." She prompted as he took a bite of the cake. "Romeo and Juliet would be ashamed."

Leon swallowed, "Whatever."

Tifa tugged her cards out of the paint can. After a beat, some renegade thought made Leon snort and stifle a smirk. She lifted an eyebrow and he glanced at her, shaking his head.

"What?" She asked, grinning suspiciously.

"Nothing." He bit another forkful of cake. "I'm just glad I cancelled the barbershop quartet that I was going to send to your office." He teased.

"I would have KILLED you." Tifa carved another chunk out of the cake.

**..:-X-:..**

**136 – In the Rough**

_For Kiss of the Breeze_

Women plus machinery…It never equaled anything good.

In fact, if Leon hadn't spent ten years dodging surprise attacks from the Heartless, he would have been killed by the metal…something…that flew out of the engine cavity of Tifa's jeep when he lifted the hood.

"Geez!" He dropped to the ground as the piece whizzed past his shoulder, bouncing and clattering on the concrete a few meters behind him.

After making sure he hadn't been impaled by anything, he tentatively got up and opened the hood more slowly this time. No projectiles rushed to greet him, and he exhaled, propping the lid up with the metal prong along the lip of the cavity.

Tifa had bought this ton of crap on wheels a few months ago. All her big talk of renovating the beast and driving it had ironically fallen silent after she started digging around in the ruined engine. Whoever had owned this rusted thing had attempted their own bandaid fixes before pawning it off on Tifa for a 'bargain' price. It was a field of rusted metal and…duct tape.

The jeep had been taking up space in the old garage where the Alliance worked on cars and ships that…I don't know…actually worked…So Leon had had it moved to a smaller local garage.

It had taken a week for Tifa to notice.

That opened up another flurry of big talk…She ordered new parts, replacement parts, the wrong parts, and some odd looking parts that had to be just for show. She seemed determined to actually get this thing running.

Funny how HE ended up being the one to work on the vehicle.

Leon found the renegade piece, the only non-rusted bit in the whole thing: a thick coiled spring. No wonder it had launched out of there like a rocket…It was slightly warped and the ends looked like they'd been jammed into place rather than professionally installed, but it was salvageable…one of few salvageable things.

Salvage…He snorted, starting to dismantle the old engine and remove it from the cavity. Tifa was a master of salvage. This monstrosity, that television in their apartment that never quite got the sports channel, and…the couch. She had never come off as a miser or someone who wasn't willing to spend money on things…She just seemed to rather save second hand things that most people would just shrug off as scrap, a lost cause, junk, beyond repair.

Once the engine was gutted and disemboweled on the garage floor, he noted that the body of the jeep itself wasn't in that bad of a condition. New passenger side doors—it looked like a Large Body Heartless had bearhugged it on that side—and an out of shape front fender…but otherwise it was manageable.

If Tifa knew he was working on this, she'd…ah, he didn't know. She had a weird defensive streak about it, like she wanted to fix it on her own, but then she barely paid it enough attention to keep a tree alive, so…bah, he was here, he was bored, might as well.

The jeep did have a sort of diamond in the rough—really rough—quality about it. Like something useful demanding to be plucked from wreckage. Leon tilted his head, surveying the pathetic body of metal, its innards scattered across the floor. He looked down at the coil in his hand and absently straightened out the frayed ends.

Was he seriously empathizing with an inanimate object? Come on, he shook his head and set about removing the ruined doors. The last time he empathized with something that wasn't human, he ended up with Duke…He didn't regret that at all, but an abandoned dog with giant brown eyes was one thing…a rusty, broken, ruined waste of steel was anoth—

The door came free surprisingly quickly and Leon lost his balance, hitting the floor…and the door came with him, landing hard on his chest. He grunted and shoved the thing off, sitting up and glaring at the beast of a vehicle.

"So that's the way it's going to be, huh." He muttered to no one.

Tifa's couch terrorized him enough, but now her car was going to be another thorn in his side? What was it with Tifa's stuff hating him? The feeling was mutual at least.

Then damn it all if he was going to let this jeep win. He'd fix it up, whether it worked with him or not…Crap, now he was getting competitive with an inanimate object.

He needed help.

Circling back to the engine, he leaned in to make sure the axles weren't bent. He hated metaphors, but something about this jeep was getting into his head. Tifa was giving it a chance like she was giving him a chance, so maybe that was—

The prong gave and the hood free fell, smacking him so hard on the head that he nearly toppled into the empty engine cavity. He swore and regained his balance, dropping the coil.

"Yeah, yeah, I hate you too." He grumbled, propping the hood up again.

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 136:** For how Leon really ended up with Duke, check out _Man's Best Friend_ (shameless advertisement!) Don't worry, the jeep won't turn into another couch thing. I've got plans for this car. Hehehe.

Still loving these prompts. Thanks guys!


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are Duke, McCallister, and Nestor. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**137 – If I Only Had a Brain**

_For justagirl8225_

"I take it the mission didn't quite go as planned?" Leon said, keeping the smirk under control as Tifa and the other three soldiers tromped out of the Gummi Ship.

Tifa glared, straw clinging to her person and sticking out of places that straw did not belong. "You." She pointed at his face, "Shut it."

McCallister coughed, stepping out from behind Tifa. She was covered in bits of metal, tin, and some sort of silvery powder, like a robot. One of Tifa's male subordinates was swatting the accumulated blond fur off of him. They looked like the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion…all that was missing was—

The pilot, a very young looking woman, probably still in her teens, bounced out in a blue dress that was cut too short, hair in braids. "I told you to hang on the overhead bars." She reprimanded.

"We didn't know you flew like a maniac!" McCallister snapped between coughs, brushing the metal bits off of her person.

Tifa was clawing at every opening in her clothes that she could reach, plucking out the straw. "I hate straw. It gets everywhere and it friggin' ITCHES."

The other subordinate had given up on de-furring himself and was just grabbing up his equipment to get out of the hangar. McCallister was rinsing out her mouth and the pilot was just laughing at them all. Leon looked at the girl.

"How'd it go?" He asked.

Tifa answered before the pilot could, "Terrible. It took two hours, first of all, to just get past the wormhole—"

"But we survived, didn't we?" The pilot chirped.

"—and then Halloween Town was in their weird Let's Do Christmas funk, so everything was all backwards and Jack kept trying to hug me—" Tifa attacked her hair now, tugging out the pieces of straw that had settled there.

"She's just peeved because she landed in a pile of straw after the mission." The pilot said.

Leon subtly slid between the two women, in case Tifa attacked her—and she looked very capable of attacking someone at the moment. He wordlessly picked up Tifa's equipment bag and aimed her shoulders toward the door.

"At least it's over." He attempted to placate.

"Yeah but…guh, straw…everywhere—"

"You look prime to be strung up in a corn field."

"I hate you."

"You'd terrorize every crow in Radiant Garden."

"Jerk."

"Or maybe just the Yellow Brick Road."

"Leon, I swear—"

He snorted at her expense as they walked to the other end of the hangar. Once he got the teasing out of his system, he shifted the bag to his shoulder. "Seriously though, how does Halloween Town look?"

"Well," Tifa was tugging pieces of straw out of her hair bit by bit as they walked. "From what I could tell, productivity is high. Oogie Boogie's influence is all but gone, but this whole Christmas business is bothering me."

He grunted at that.

She paused and then snorted.

He looked at her sideways, "What?"

"We really did look like we'd escaped from Oz, didn't we?" She giggled.

He lifted one eyebrow, "You didn't get much sleep, did you?"

"Not three hours in the past two days." She said, looking irritated, slap happy, and tired all in the same expression. "If you had come along, you'd have been the Horse of Many Colors."

"Really."

"Yeah…because every time I end up in the stupid mission, you turn into a horse's ass."

"You're a jerk." He watched her yawn widely, "And you need sleep."

She lifted a fist, locking her other arm through his elbow, "To Oz!"

**..:-X-:..**

**138 – Positives and Negatives**

_For Kiss of the Breeze_

"Dear, dear, what have we here?" Tifa stood, one hip cocked, touching her chin thoughtfully. "This is quite the…situation."

Leon glared at her, but he couldn't exactly do anything…That was the whole 'situation'.

Tifa glanced to the construction worker on her right, "And the entire control panel was damaged?"

"Yes'm." The guy scratched his receding hairline, eying Leon's…predicament. "The only way to turn it off would be to sever the entire main cable."

"Then DO IT." Leon hissed.

"Ah, ah." Tifa wagged a finger, enjoying this too much. "That would take nearly an hour anyway, and cost nearly 100,000 munny to replace."

"Then…" Leon's voice was strained to remain level, but he was glaring daggers at Tifa. "What do you suggest?"

The massive magnetic crane had been lowered for maintenance when the two had arrived on the scene to investigate the accident sight. The control panel of the machine had been damaged, rendering the magnet on high. Several coins and little bits of metal had shot like bullets to the six foot circle that was resting on the ground, still connected to the crane.

Not five minutes after arriving, Leon stepped too close to the magnet and…well…He really should have known better…wearing all those belts and clasps and things…

"We could just wait until the call to the company patches through and they give instructions on how to override the control system." She offered. "But that could take all day."

"Tifa…" He nearly snarled, face and neck red.

She tilted her head and grinned at him before looking to the workers. "Maybe check the control panel again."

"Ma'am…"

"Just…humor me." She waved them off.

As soon as the men stepped aside, Tifa walked up to Leon and started undoing the metal bands around his forearm.

"Honestly," She said, shaking her head, "Are all of these necessary?"

"Shut up." He grumbled, staring into the distance while she loosened the bands on his forearm and started on his other arm.

She snorted and then knelt down.

"What are you doing?" He asked, unable to move still.

He hated being immobile. Tifa knew that and she was exploiting it because…when you get Leon immobile…you have to take advantage and embarrass him silly.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" She said, starting to unbuckle the belts around his waist. "You want to be free of the magnet right?"

"Tifa—"

She removed the first belt and got to work on the second one, practically feeling the heat coming off his face, even though she was level with his stomach. "And this is the fastest way. So suck it up," She dropped the second belt and got onto the last one, "And take it like a man."

"You are just eating this up, aren't you?" He grumbled, starting to wriggle one arm free from the loosened bands on his forearms.

"No, but if those workers come back around, they sure will." She teased. "This is your penance for laughing at me last week for that Oz bit."

"This is not even—" He was cut off as she finished unbuckling the last belt, grasped the end of it, and ripped backward. The belt slid all the way around his waist and snapped out of the belt loops like a whip.

Tifa snorted at the shocked and slightly pained look on his face, and then looked sideways at the two workers who had just walked around the machine. They gawked for a moment, and Leon shimmied off the magnetic wall, skin red where the bands had cut into his arms, and his face red from…everything else.

"Not cool." He grumbled, picking up the belts and not looking at the workers.

"On the contrary," Tifa chuckled, "That just made my day."

He kept muttering under his breath, but Tifa ignored him. He was going to get her back, she knew, but for now, she would revel in her little victory.

"Dude…" One of the workers said, "…You better buy her dinner now."

Oh yes, revel she would.

**..:-X-:..**

**139 – Been There Before**

_For Handwritten_

The new seats were…oddly shaped. Not uncomfortable, but Leon quickly found out that just folding them down and lying down in the back of the jeep was more comfortable than lying across the seats.

The press conference today had been brutal. Neverending questions, always the same questions, and no one ever happy with the answers. Radiant Garden had been patient, but now they expected results that wouldn't be plausible for another three months…And Nestor wasn't helping, with his catering to the public the way he was…forcing Leon to play bad cop.

He just needed to get away, just for a little while, after nearly two hours with cameras and microphones and overeager reporters in his face. So he just lay there, in the back of Tifa's rusted out jeep, with the seats folded down, eyes closed, relishing the silence. Just for a moment.

The back end of the jeep bowed and then shifted back as another weight eased onto it. Leon didn't open his eyes, didn't acknowledge Tifa as she climbed into the back of the jeep with him. She knew how much he hated press conferences. He needed this decompression. She usually just left him alone for a while every time he was obligated to face the reporters. It was almost an unspoken…rule was a strong word, but…

It seemed like a lot of unspoken rules were being broken lately. Then again, it had been a rough few weeks. They were both sleep deprived and irritable, and remarks made in exasperation and even just good humor hadn't quite come off that way. The little pranks and teasing had been aggravating all last week. He figured she had felt that just as he had, because they both sort of avoided each other the week after.

He still didn't open his eyes, but felt her plop onto the floor of the jeep beside him, not saying anything to him as he didn't say anything to her. It was natural, he supposed, to get irritated with someone when you were around them all the time…but he didn't like it. Who else was he supposed to vent at? McCallister? He almost snorted at how the private would react to that...

Tifa shifted until her head was on his shoulder, the top of her head brushing against his jaw. Leon opened his eyes at that, staring at the ceiling. Neither said anything, and his peripheral revealed that most of her body was angled away from him. She wasn't trying to cuddle up on him or anything—thank God—but why she felt inclined to put her head there…He had no idea.

The warm weight of her head against his neck was oddly comforting and he swallowed, inhaling slowly. Her hair smelled like some sort of vanilla shampoo, and there was also that combination of coffee and freshly cut grass that was a scent she somehow always carried around. The dark locks were soft, and he found himself almost leaning into it.

Why was she doing this?

The thought sounded harsh in his head and he pushed it away. This was her way of…not really apologizing…She hadn't done anything wrong…nothing more than he had…They had just gotten irritated with each other that week and avoided each other…This was just Tifa Speak for…

I missed you.

He wasn't sure what to do with that.

She seemed perfectly comfortable, as though breaching his comfort bubble was something she was entitled to do every now and then. And it didn't feel like a 'breach' either. The more he thought about it, the more he considered that having her this close wasn't uncomfortable. It was unexpected, yes, but not unwelcome, because…He frowned…Maybe he had missed her too.

Damn, these awkward seats were oddly shaped. The curve of the base of it was pushing into his back, but he didn't want to move. Tifa yawned beside him, shifting so that her knee was propped up.

Before Leon completely registered that he'd done it, he found that he'd dropped his cheek onto the top of her head. He stared at the ceiling, at that one little rusted spot that refused to close, no matter what sealant he used. She fell still, the softness of her hair tickling at his jaw.

Maybe he didn't hate this jeep so much after all. It was quiet, after all, and isolated, sort of like a rusty Fortress of Solitude. He almost smirked at that thought and looked as far down as he could, but he couldn't see past the top of Tifa's head, but it felt like her eyes were open, staring at the ceiling too, probably. Comfortable.

If she wanted to move or say something, she didn't act on it. In fact, she almost seemed as reluctant to move as he was. For a fleeting moment, he wondered what it would feel like to have an arm around those shoulders. He blinked once, narrowed one eye, and decided to push that thought away.

He doubted Tifa would appreciate that, he thought dryly. She was still reeling from whatever emotional trauma Cloud had put her through, and something else had been bothering her recently, but she hadn't voiced it.

He was practically using her head as a pillow. So what exactly was he doing?

Maybe it was just a 'I missed you too'…Yeah, that was it.

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 139:** Title came from the lyrics of Hold My Hand, covered by Committed, which was my musical muse for this ditty, oddly enough.

This chapter came off awkward, I think. Not my best work, but the best I could do with my insane schedule. College would be awesome if I could just get out of that whole class thing, haha. Anyway, more to come.

Lovely prompts, as always. Thanks guys!


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are Duke and McCallister. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**140 – Of You and Me**

_For Handwritten_

"Maybe we just get the day off."

"That's stupid, Cooper. The Major General doesn't give days off."

"Oh, and your theory about being 'sick' is plausible, Harper?"

"Will you two knock it off? Here comes somebody."

The recruits in Major General Leonhart's squad stood at…relative attention as Private McCallister stepped through the door of the training room and walked across the lit chamber toward them. Cooper and Marcus exchanged looks. If the Major General was sending his errand girl—as they quietly referred to the private—then the boss himself really wasn't going to show.

All of the subordinates had seen McCallister around. For a private, she was very well known…mostly because of that big hoopla last year…but from what all of them could tell, she was a submissive woman who seemed to come to attention like a Labrador anytime the Major General so much as e-mailed her.

This was going to be an easy day if she was their instructor for the day.

Then again, she had been the Major General's first hand intern for two years and survived…That had to mean something.

"Everybody loose?" was her two-word greeting as she approached them.

They all exchanged looks.

"Didn't the Major General teach you how to stretch properly?" She said, the low-brow look on her face making them edgy.

"What if he got sent on a mission and got blown up?" One of the recruits murmured.

Harper rolled her eyes. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." She whispered back.

McCallister just stood there while the recruits completely ignored her, murmuring among themselves and trying to figure out where the 'real' boss was. Sick day. Vacation day. Trapped in a submarine at the bottom of the Radiant Garden Great Lake. The theories became more and more ridiculous as the seconds stretched.

"Or maybe he and the Brigadier General Lockhart finally just ran off together." Cooper snorted with a grin.

"Or maybe," McCallister's voice raised a notch, but dropped a tone. "he got so sick of all of your whining, lackluster, lazy ass selves and found himself some new recruits who are actually worth a shit." She absolutely hissed.

They all looked at her.

"Stand at attention." She snapped, eying them all dangerously.

This time they obeyed hastily. Those two interning years had apparently carved the Tone into her voice.

"Ma'am." Harper asked, "Permission to ask about the Major General."

"Denied." McCallister said flatly, "It doesn't concern you, any of you. Major General Leonhart does not have to clear anything with you. Your recruits, pukes, gum on the sidewalk. Wipe that smile off your face, Cooper. I'm not kidding." She pointed at him.

Cooper stifled the smirk and McCallister stepped up to him.

"Maybe he should know all of your colorful theories about his personal life." She glared hard at Cooper. "I'm sure he'd love to take time out of his busy schedule to listen to you gossip like a bunch of junior high girls. Do you want that?"

"No, ma'am." They chorused.

Yeah…she had been his intern all right.

"Questions? Comments? Concerns to share with the class?" She went on before anybody could say anything. "Now run laps."

Harper opened her mouth. The others glared at her to 'shut up, don't say anything', but the words were already out. "How many laps, ma'am?"

McCallister cast her a sideways look. "Until I say stop." She looked down the line, "And until you green recruits learn to stop flapping your mouths about things above your paygrade."

The recruits kept the grumbling minimal as they started running their laps. McCallister watched them and huffed. Brigadier General Lockhart's squad had at least hopped to as soon as she gave them instructions. Those two had better get back from the mission soon, she thought, or I'm going to end up killing all of their recruits.

**..:-X-:..**

**141 – Break the Mold**

_For justagirl8225_

The entire living room of Merlin's house was covered in multi-colored powder. It was in the air, drifting around the light fixtures, and settling on every surface in the room. For the most part, it was harmless. It made the fire burn green. The magical furniture began to tap dance. Duke bounced off the ground like an astronaut every time she barked.

And then there was Leon and Tifa.

Tifa had a fistful of bright yellow dust in one hand and a bottle of some purple liquid in the other. Her hair had been turned shock white and the skin on the left side of her face was extremely shiny and buffed, like she'd just had a facial. Green and blue herbal dust had tinted her clothes, and her eye lashes were heavy with the stuff.

Leon was hardly better. Practically coated in red dust, his hair was saturated with green spellwork liquid and, like Tifa, his skin was really shiny. He was armed with just one large clear jar of blue powder the size of a basketball.

A cloud of dust was buffeted around them, like a rainbow tornado, as Tifa threw her fistful of yellow dust at his neck and Leon nearly dumped the entire container of blue powder on her head.

For a moment, Yuffie just stood in the doorway, transfixed by the sight of the two normally very composed adults throwing the glittery powder at each other like two children left alone in a toy room.

Barely an hour had passed since Merlin had left Leon a list of potion ingredients to pull from his shelves. Most of them were on the top two shelves, Yuffie knew, because the old codger had made her organize them all by potency…or some category…she didn't bother to remember…nearly a month ago.

That was all she had to go on here: Leon left alone with a floor-to-ceiling shelf full of old dusty potions and powders. Duke had been chewing on one of Cid's boots, and Tifa hadn't even been here. Now it looked like a clown's cocaine stash had exploded in here.

The young ninja gawked, for once at a loss for words. The mass of blue powder that had spilled over Tifa's shoulder was making that half of the woman's body grow some kind of fur. The yellow splash that had nailed Leon in the throat was causing him to grow a beard. Duke was covered in a pound of golden dust, and a smudge of pink was across her noise.

"What the blue blazes did you two get into?" She finally made her presence known, planting her hands on her hips.

Both Leon and Tifa stopped throwing the multi-colored powder at each other, ammunition in their hands, eyes on Yuffie, guilty as sin. A helpless smile curled Yuffie's mouth. This was fun. She never got to bust Leon with anything. He was like the freakish eldest sibling that never did anything wrong. Now his hand was in the cookie jar and she would get to rat him out to everybody…especially Merlin.

"That old fart is going to KILL you." She did a little bounce on the word 'kill', surveying the powder and dust that was circulating in the air around them.

Duke barked and the motion made her rise nearly a foot into the air. Yuffie didn't know anything about potions and all that magic crap outside of a good battle, but it looked like the dog had been doused in some of Tinkerbell's pixie dust. How Merlin had gotten his hands on that little doozy, she couldn't fathom.

"She was—"

"It's a—" The two guilty parties started simultaneously and abruptly stopped.

Yuffie grinned like an idiot. "And you call ME immature?"

Leon and Tifa looked at her for a moment, glanced to each other and exchanged a look that Yuffie couldn't interpret, and then they both reached back, lifting up two massive jars of silver and green powder that she hadn't noticed earlier.

"What're you—" She took a half step back.

"If we go down, you're going down with us." Tifa cackled, her white hair making her look like Frankenstein's bride.

Leon looked like Jesus in leather with a scar. "Yeah, we can blame it on you."

"What? No!" Yuffie tried to shield herself, but it was too late.

The two mountains of magical dust smashed into her and she ducked and tried to roll away. Her legs went loopy and her hands grew to twice their normal size under the mixed spells' powers. Tifa was laughing at her, but Leon was going for more ammo.

"Oh, you've DONE it now!" Yuffie grabbed for the closest jar of dust she could reach, uncorked it, and joined in the mayhem.

Duke barked, and this time the pixie dust lifted her clear to the ceiling, and there she remained as the three continued their magic powder snowball fight.

**..:-X-:..**

**142 – Return**

_For Lett_

Tifa caught the phone in the middle of the first ring, sliding it between her ear and her shoulder without breaking her eyes from the text on the computer screen. "Hello?"

"Tifa." Aerith sounded breathless and pitchy.

"Hey," Tifa greeted, pausing her fingers on the keyboard, "Are you okay? You sound—"

"Where's Leon?"

"He's—"

"I need to speak with him immediately."

Aerith's normally calm, level voice had a tone of urgency to it that got Tifa's attention. Frowning, she leaned back in her seat and looked across the living room through Leon's bedroom door. It was five am, and he had gotten off shift at four. Unless someone was dying, she really didn't want to wake him.

"He's asleep." She answered, eyes wandering back to the living room.

"Wake him up." Aerith was nearly squeaking now.

"What's wrong?" Tifa asked, but then the phone beeped, "I've got another call coming in."

"That's what I'm calling about. It's—"

"Aerith, hold on for just a minute." She assured. It would only take a minute to tell the other caller that it was a bad time, and then she'd finish calming Aerith down.

"But—"

Tifa clicked the line to the other call, "Hello?"

No response.

"Hell-oo?" She tried again, preparing to terminate the line.

"…Squall?"

It was a soft, higher pitched voice, but the tone gave her pause.

"Hello?" Tifa asked again.

"Er…Hello." The woman on the other end greeted lightly. "Is Squall there?"

Tifa narrowed one eye at the phone with a sigh. She didn't know any 'Squall' character.

"No, I'm sorry. I think you have the wrong number." She said.

A confused beat, "Oh, this isn't…" The other end rattled off the phone number.

Tifa frowned, "That's right, but I don't know any—"

"Squall Leonhart? The flowergirl from the square told me he lived here."

Leonhart? Tifa eyebrow shot up and she looked toward Leon's bedroom door again. He hadn't moved, splayed on his stomach in bed. Dead to the world. She didn't know if he had any living relatives…Then again, she knew he had changed his name…though it was long before she had met him.

"Squall Leonhart?" Tifa tilted her head. There was a grunt of movement in Leon's room, but she didn't look over. "I'm sorry…Who is this?" She asked, looking into the living room again.

"Oh! Sorry." The other voice chattered. "You probably think I'm some crazy person."

The thought did cross my mind, Tifa thought, but didn't say anything.

"This is Rinoa. Rinoa Heartilly. I was hoping—"

The phone kept talking, but all of the blood drained from Tifa's upper body, joining her insides on the floor. This…No, she had misheard. Surely…That…this wasn't possible…

"—and it HAS been nearly 12 years, so…Oh, geez, he doesn't think I'm dead, does he?" The woman…Rinoa…was chattering on. "Hello? Are you still there?"

"Sorry." Tifa said, barely above the whisper, eyes wide and stomach churning.

"Good." A little chuckle on the other end of the line. "Does Squall live with you? Wait…who is this? Do you know who I'm talking about?"

But Tifa heard little else as her stomach lurched. She lunged for the trash can and abruptly threw up. The phone stayed in her hand, but her knuckles around it were white. When she lifted her face out of it, trembling and in shock, she saw that Leon had lifted his head up and was looking at her. And then the reality crashed into her and she nearly got sick again.

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 140: **Sort of channeled the Drill Instructor Hartman from Full Metal Jacket a little bit...or as FMJ as McCallister can get, snicker, snicker.

**A/N 142:** This is an excerpt from _As the Sun Sets on Mushroom Clouds_. I haven't written it yet, so this scene may not be exact in the actual story. Details may change, but the scene itself will remain the same. Tease, tease!

As always, lovely prompts!


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mind, as are Duke, Kya Leng, and Jake Alms. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**143 – Close Your Mouth and Open Up Your Heart**

_For justagirl8225_

Every single color under the sun bedecked the surfaces of Radiant Garden. The entire population looked like they had jumped into a rainbow and returned to dance it all off. The sky was blue, the music was blaring, and smiles were everywhere.

And they had a right to celebrate, Leon thought, as a group of kids ran by wildly, laughing like they had just heard Santa was real. Today was the two year anniversary of the restoration of Radiant Garden, the liberation of their home world from the Heartless. The place looked like an entirely new world compared to the rotting mess that he and Cid and the others had returned to.

The entire Marketplace had turned into one massive dance floor. Some people were dancing around in groups, some just tapped their knees while the more adventurous threw themselves around. Leon had noticed that quite a number of those electronic dancing games had even made appearances, littering around the outside of the zone…for the group that was too old to find innocent dancing fun but was too young to be comfortable dancing formally.

Near the outside of one part of the Marketplace, a crowd of children had gathered around a long stretch of what looked like piano keys. Like an oversized carpet in the design of a piano. From the looks of things, Jake Alms had been the instigator there.

The stretch, upon second look, was less of a carpet and more of a mat of interlocking panels that lit up when someone stepped on one. What was more, he noticed, was that a few speakers had been set up, and the panels elicited a tone whenever each lit up. So it really was like an oversized keyboard.

From where he was standing—out of the way of the crazy dancing, thank you very much—Leon could see a few kids around 4 or 5 years old jumping up and down on the keys, nearly rolling with amusement at the noises that the panels were making. A couple of kids a few years older were sheepishly attempting to do Chopsticks, but they were being dissuaded by…Duke.

The dog had managed to make her way into the middle of the massive keyboard, but now she was stuck there. Leon smirked despite himself as the golden retriever stepped one way, her paw lighting up the panel and making a noise. She would yip and bounce back, only to hit another panel, which lit up and made noise. This continued for a while, much to the kids' entertainment. One boy did a baseball slide down the keys, lighting them all up and making a cascading sound. Duke barked and tried to escape again, but the kids were finding her too much fun to let her go that easily.

Radiant Garden had been brought back to life.

Leon exhaled, letting himself relax a little for the first time in…a long, long time. He wasn't sure where the others had gone off to—at one point he saw Cid drinking with a group of his gambling buddies and Yuffie haggling with the lady who ran the cotton candy machine—but he could see Aerith and Tifa over by the edge of the keyboard with the shy kids.

"You are the only guy I know who can manage to look gloomy at a party like this." Kya Leng, the chief of surgery at the Radiant Garden Hospital, said, having appeared on Leon's other side without him noticing.

"What?" He looked at her, "I'm not gloomy."

"You're lurking against a wall." The middle aged woman lifted an eyebrow at him.

"I'm not lurking." He said, folding his arms, "Just because I don't—"

Alms had found himself a woman who didn't reject him and waltzed the giggly red head past the two in such a frenzy that it was almost dangerous.

"—do that," Leon pointed, "doesn't mean I'm lurking."

Dr. Leng shook her head, "Well, anyway, you shouldn't lurk. You had a big hand in this. You should enjoy the celebration just as much as everybody else."

"…" He didn't respond.

The dissonance of the children's play on the piano board was interrupted as Tifa coaxed one of the shy little girls onto it, dancing on her knees with the girl and showing her how to do it. Duke had escaped, and was now frolicking after a group of boys. He watched the dog.

"She's beautiful." Dr. Leng noted, an odd tease in her voice.

"Yeah." Leon grunted.

"Look at her. She makes everybody smile." Dr. Leng went on.

Leon smirked and looked at her, but the doctor wasn't looking at Duke. She was looking over at the piano board. At Tifa. He felt his neck heat up slightly when Tifa looked over, saw them, and waved.

He cleared his throat and gave an awkward little wave back. "Yeah."

"And it looks like I'm not the only one who thinks so." Dr. Leng said quietly.

**..:-X-:..**

**144 – Hold The Insomniac All Night**

_For WishingDreamer5_

How in the world the Heartless managed to get their crap all over the INSIDE of the barrels of the gunblade was beyond him. Leon grimaced as he worked the cleaning cloth through the chambers of the weapon. The entire trigger mechanism was stuck with the gunk. Shameful. He had dismantled the entire thing on the coffee table and it was a mess.

Tifa was lying on her stomach, spread out on the floor behind the couch where he was working. He'd nearly stepped on her when he came in around six in the morning, just an hour or so ago. She'd been barely lucid. She'd been on assignment in Olympus for a week now, recent investigations into the whole Underworld set up and progress on the reconstruction of the Coliseum had been stringing her out. After so long in the heat and surrounded by dirt and sand, she needed to feel solid ground under her, she'd said.

She had been slightly sunburned on her shoulders and the top half of her face. The cool wooden floor probably felt good. Leon left her alone, even after she started mumbling in her sleep. She only did that when she was bone tired, so he didn't bother her.

It was incoherent mostly, and easily ignored as he worked the Heartless remains and other muck off of the gunblade. Every now and then one word might actually get pronounced, but it was usually something along the lines of 'purple' or 'earring' or 'omelet'.

"…Mmhm…no…huhmhm…wait…"

Something in her tone had changed.

Leon let his focus drift a little, slowing his motions on the trigger of the weapon so he could listen more carefully…just in case it turned into a nightmare.

"…p-please…mnh…Le—no…no…"

A single, unstifled sob escaped and that was all it took for Leon to set the gunblade down, stand up, and move around the couch, looking down at her.

Tifa had curled into a loose ball, trembling from whatever was plaguing her dreams. Her knuckles were balled into white fists by her head, and tears had gathered under her closed eyes, but they weren't breaking free yet.

Nightmares weren't uncommon around here: bad memories and traumatic experiences and all that, but he'd never seen her like this. It was unnerving.

Another, hiccupping sob made Tifa's shoulders hunch toward her ears, along with the murmuring, "Mhm…please…I'm sorry…hmmuh…d-don't l-leave…"

Tears were coming in earnest now, and alarm spiked up Leon's spine. He knelt down and grasped her shoulder.

"Tifa—" He gave her a small shake. "Tifa, wake up."

She flinched under his touch and he withdrew, but only just.

"—knew…I'm sorry…mh-no…no leave…Leon—"

That was enough solid ground.

Leon touched her shoulder again. When she didn't respond, he sighed and moved his arms under her knees and behind her back. He lifted her off the floor, and she didn't stir out of the nightmare. If anything, she just put her face into his neck and trembled as he carried her into her room. He slowly deposited her on her bed.

Maybe the time in the desert had made her delirious, or she'd spent too long in the Underworld. That place really messed with someone if you spent too long—

Tifa's eyes suddenly snapped open as he was straightening. "Rinoa…"

He froze solid. She wasn't awake. Her eyes were open, but she wasn't awake, her eyes impossibly wide and glazed. Her hand was fisted around his jacket at the collar.

"What?" He found himself blurting.

Her face crumpled, the side of her face red from lying on the floor. "I'm sorry—don't…don't hate me…Don't leave…"

Leon reached up and gently tugged her fingers off of his collar. "No one hates you." He spoke slowly, to get through to her. "No one's leaving you."

"…promised…"

"I know," He said, setting her arm down on the bed. "I promise that—"

"No—" She said breathlessly. "I promised—not to—She's—"

"Hey," He said, trying to curb her panic. "I'm not going anywhere. Go to sleep."

Tifa looked like she wanted to say more, but then nodded and just lay back, closing her eyes. Leon straightened, pausing, but she looked like she'd settled. He had no idea what had just happened, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know…but he'd ask her later…if he had the gumption. Damn Underworld.

**..:-X-:..**

**145** –** Not Just a River in Egypt**

_For justagirl8225_

Whoever taught Nobodies to cast Gravity Spells should be shot.

Tifa had spent all night tossing and turning, aching and uncomfortable from the spell's aftereffects. Potions and Healing Spells mended wounds, not achy joints and strained muscles. As she blinked sleep from her eyes and saw sunlight on the wall of her bedroom, she figured that she must have gotten some sleep at some point, though her body was still aching.

Leon had checked on her periodically between shifts and eventually she'd come out of her stupor long enough to register him sitting beside her on the bed. Not touching her, not talking to her, just working on some paperwork or other. That's when she had realized she must look really pathetic if Leon was keeping a vigil.

From the warm weight at her back, he'd never left. Well, that was slightly ridiculous. She wasn't dying; he knew that. She blinked a few more times, waking up completely. The clock on the bedside table read 9 AM. She'd missed the morning meeting…So had he.

She started to turn her head, wake him up, and grumble this little bit of information at him. She only made it a half turn before going rigid and turning back around.

He was RIGHT THERE.

Not on the other side of the bed, not fallen asleep sitting up, as was often the case, and not with his back to her. Leon was practically right beside her, so close it stalled her breathing for a brief moment. While she was curled up on her side under the blanket, he was still fully dressed, on top of the covers, dead to the world…but that was definitely his arm draped over her side. Like it had always been there.

Seeing this, her skin tingled and she tried to reason this out. He'd probably just nodded off and ended up spending the night in here. They'd slept in the same bed before, either out of necessity on a mission or because exhaustion discouraged the other from going to their own room. But never this close. Leon would be mortified if he woke up like this…because there was no way they had ended up like this on purpose.

But Tifa couldn't bring herself to move. As much as she fought it, it felt nice. It felt nice to be held like this. Not in a sexual way or out of sympathy or pity or because they were stranded on a mountain and needed to preserve body heat…but just…because. And she wasn't completely sure if it was because she was just being held like she thought a woman should be held, or because it was Leon's arm that was around her.

Did it really matter?

Maybe Tabaeus McCallister had a point: she was fighting something that maybe she shouldn't. Tifa pursed her lips. No, she closed her eyes briefly. She was fighting this for a reason. Leon was the closest friend she had now. The past few years had proven that countless times. She had had a similar bond with Cloud…and then when she stopped fighting that feeling…it had blown up in her face.

She opened her eyes. She didn't think…She knew she couldn't go through that again. With Cloud, sure, it had hurt, but Leon…It was different. If this blew up, it would kill her. So she would just have to be careful that there would be no 'this' to ruin.

With this in mind, she started to sit up. Leon's arm slid to her hip as she moved, not pulling her back, not holding her put. Just a warm weight that invited her to stay. Maybe Leon said more when he was asleep than when he was awake. Was this almost-cuddle really unintentional? Or what if he really—

No, Tifa rubbed her face with one arm, but didn't move any farther away. He was still learning to let Rinoa go. Surely he was in no mental state to consider…They were friends. That was all. No matter how perfectly she seemed to fit under his arm or how comfortable this felt.

She really should get up.

The fact that they'd both missed the meeting meant that any minute now McCallister would be calling to make sure they weren't dead. But Leon had just come off an eighteen hour shift and Tifa…just didn't want to get up…not that she wanted to admit that.

Against her better judgment, she sank back onto her side, sliding one arm under her pillow to further support her head. All of the fight had left her for the moment. So she let herself sink contentedly into the sleepy embrace. The warmth of a body against her back made her belly flutter. Now that she was lying down again, she could just feel his breath on her neck, where her hair had fallen aside.

She could fight tomorrow.

Besides, her body was still sore from the Gravity Spell.

With this last thought, her eyelids grew heavy and she found it pleasantly easy to get comfortable again. She closed her eyes against the morning sunlight. As she drifted back to sleep, she could have sworn that she felt Leon's arm shift back to its original spot around her ribs.

But she probably imagined it.

Maybe.

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 143:** Title from Little Less Conversation by Elvis Presley…because it's just an awesome song. If I didn't describe the piano board very well, imagine the Chopsticks scene from the Tom Hanks movie "Big", that's what I was going for.

**A/N 144:** Title from Insomniac, as covered by On the Rocks. Gosh, this was a hard one to write without getting too deep into the plot for _As the Sun Sets on Mushroom Clouds_…from here on I'm referring to it as ASSMC because that's a long title…

Lovely prompts, as always!


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are Duke, Dr. Leng, and McCallister. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**146 – Close Call**

_For justagirl8225_

"And…" Dr. Leng tied off the last stitch, "…done."

Tifa felt herself deflate slightly with relief. It was over. She had managed to keep her eyes carefully averted from the gaping hole in Leon's side that Dr. Leng was stitching closed. The bullet had slammed into him just above the hip, torn through plenty of skin and muscle and tissue to render that side of his body useless, and exited out his back.

Miraculously, no organs had been damaged, but the nerves had been shredded and left raw in the wake of the shot. And Leon being the stubborn ass that he was, he had refused to be knocked out while Dr. Leng stitched him up. He had been half out of his mind with the pain and blood loss, but he'd been determined not to be put under. And there was no arguing with him when he was like that.

The shot for the local anesthesia had nearly made him pass out, and Tifa would be lying if she said she wasn't tempted to knock him out with a good fist to the back of the head just to spare him the following hour in which Dr. Leng slowly and meticulously stitched the hole closed like he was a ripped cardigan or something.

Even with the nerves deadened by the shot, the doctor had warned that he'd still feel the pressure and the movement as she pulled the ends of muscle and skin together. Between that horror above his hip and the blood transfusion hooked up to him and the oxygen mask Dr. Leng had strapped on him after he passed out twice: he looked like death warmed over.

"Thank God." Tifa exhaled, wiping her hand across her face.

Her other hand was where it had been for the past hour, locked in a vise around Leon's shoulder. He didn't say anything, looking more lucid now but not quite all there. His white knuckles were the only evidence of fear that he was letting out.

Dr. Leng set her tools aside and stood, stretching her back. "Those will hold until we take a look at him again in a few days. I want him to stay tonight for observation—"

"No." Leon grunted, jaw locked.

Dr. Leng looked flatly to Tifa, who stood and leaned into his line of sight. "You're staying." She said. "You got to make the last decision."

He exhaled harshly and swallowed, "M'fine. Want to go home."

"Impossible man." Dr. Leng shook her head, opening one of the thick gauze bandages to cover the stitching.

Tifa lifted a hand, "I'll do that. Thank you, Kya."

Dr. Leng sighed and looked to her, "We both know he has to stay here."

"I know." Tifa swallowed, "I know."

The older woman gave her a long look and then glanced to Leon. "If you so much as sit up and pop one of those stitches…I'll tie you to the gurney myself." She huffed and left.

As soon as the door closed, leaving them alone in the hospital room, Leon trembled and stared up at the ceiling. "I don't think she likes me."

"If a patient gave you as much trouble as we've given her over the last few months, you wouldn't like you either." Tifa snapped, taking up the gauze bandage that the doctor had left.

"Tifa—" He sighed in that 'I know you're pissed but can we move on?' way.

"No." Tifa shook her head, forcing herself to look at the red and angry wound as she prepared the bandage. "You nearly died, nearly gave me a heart attack, and nearly bled out. I saw you, you were swallowing the screams the entire time she was sewing you back together."

"I'm fine." He grimaced, tugging the mask from his face.

"Dammit, Leon." Tifa said, exhausted and drained from the whole experience.

They both fell quiet after that. Tifa clenched her jaw so hard her teeth started to ache as she carefully placed the bandage down, using as little pressure as possible to place the second one over the exit wound on his back. His body still tensed at the touch and she gently taped the ends down, withdrawing quickly.

The local would keep that part of his body senseless for a while longer, but the wound was located in such a place that he wouldn't be able to properly get up and move around without threatening to tear the stitches open. Satisfied with her bandaging job, she turned around and leaned against the table, facing the wall, her back turned toward him.

Stubborn…stubborn, stupid…ass…

"You're staying here in the hospital tonight." She said, the little quiver at the end of her statement betraying her. "And I'm staying too…Just to make sure…you don't get stupid."

"All right." He conceded, and she felt him lift a hand and touch her back. "I'm sorry."

Tifa didn't turn around, but let her hand drift back to his shoulder. "I know."

**..:-X-:..**

**147 - MacGyver It**

_For justagirl8225_

"This looks like an interesting story." Tifa leaned into Leon's office.

Private McCallister started slightly, squatting against the wall to the left of Leon's desk. "Oh, Brig—"

"Is that a spatula?" Tifa lifted an eyebrow.

McCallister looked to the utensil in her hand. "…Yes."

Tifa stepped into the office, noted the lack of Leon, and looked back to his assistant. "And what, pray tell, are you doing in Leon's office with a spatula?"

McCallister closed her eyes, hung her head, and shifted aside. The movement revealed the boot-shaped hole in the wall, through the plaster and into the drywall. A chunk of raw plaster was being held in place by copious amounts of some sort of paste.

"Since when are you Handyman McCallister?" Tifa asked.

The private resumed smearing the paste over the drywall with the spatula. "Since the latest report on The World That Never Was turned out negative."

"So, what, he kicks a wall? Not very professional." Tifa folded her arms, tilting her head at the hole.

"No." McCallister smoothed the paste down and shimmied back. "Graham Nestor and the Major General had an argument, and—"

"Nestor kicked the wall?" Tifa blinked, "Is he stupid?"

"That's what I thought." The private replied, standing again. "They were having words and then I heard Nestor kick the wall in. Then it got quiet—"

"I bet."

"—and they both left."

"Probably so Leon can kick his ass off Allied property." Tifa snorted and then looked to the hole again. "And he seriously told you to fix it? The nerve—" She turned.

McCallister had been Leon's assistant for nearly two years. She was a soldier, not a slave.

"No, no…I just thought I would…" She shrugged.

Tifa put her hands on her hips. "You're not a construction worker."

McCallister got that stiff upper lip that any good Leonhart intern had trained into them. "I'm whatever I'm needed to be."

"You're repairing a wall with a spatula."

"…"

Tifa snorted.

"It was the only thing on hand."

"Why would a spatula EVER be 'on hand'?"

McCallister exhaled, "Fine, maybe I don't know what I'm doing."

"Maybe."

"Do you think he's really going to pummel Nestor? Because…we technically should stop that."

Tifa smirked, "Nah. He might…scare him…a little, but I doubt he'd actually—" Her eyes drifted sideways to the case where Leon usually kept his gunblade while at the office.

The case was empty.

"Oh, we should definitely check." She corrected herself, stepping out of the office, McCallister on her heels.

"I hear Nestor is actually a bit of a sharp shooter." McCallister said.

"They're not cowboys, Tabaeus," Tifa snorted as they walked downstairs to Nestor's office.

"No, but Nestor's waist is the size of the Major General's thigh, so maybe we—"

Tifa glanced at the soldier, who still had the spatula in her hand. "Well, if all else fails, you can plaster them both across the face."

And there was the Glare that all of the Leonhart interns had trained into them too. If Leon didn't kill Nestor and go to prison, she'd have to congratulate him on getting at least one intern right. Then again, McCallister had tried to fix a wall with a spatula.

**..:-X-:..**

**148 – Line Crossed**

_For justagirl8225_

"Oh!"

"Shit!"

"Oh my God!"

"Tifa!"

"I'm sorry!" She backed up so fast that she tripped out the door and nearly wiped out on the side table beside the couch in the living room. "I'm sorry!" She squeaked again.

Duke lifted her head from her curled spot on the recliner.

"I thought you said okay!" Tifa slumped onto the couch.

"I said okay as in 'okay, later'…not barge right in!" Leon snapped from the other side of the door.

"It sounded like 'okay, now'!" She retorted, picking up one of the pillows on the couch and thrusting her burning face into it.

The shower stopped running and Tifa sank deeper into the couch, pillow over her face.

"Why would I mean now?" Leon sounded as shaken up as she felt.

"I don't know!" Tifa garbled through the pillow. "Shut up! Leave me alone!" She spouted off like a child.

Duke barked and Tifa glared at her over the top of the pillow.

"Just…" The door opened, but Tifa didn't turn around. "…knock first."

Tifa did spin around at that, glaring at him. "I didn't know you'd be NAKED!"

Leon looked torn between being annoyed and amused, hair wet and only wearing some hastily thrown on pants. "So you thought I was running the shower for what? Giggles?"

"I don't know. Bah!" Tifa framed her eyes with her hands and dropped her face to the top of the couch, mental images hitting her every time she looked at him.

"What in the world was so important," He was saying, and she could hear him moving around, but didn't dare look up. "that you had to tell me immediately?"

Tifa groaned, flopping back onto the couch and staring at the ceiling. "I don't even remember now."

Out of her line of sight, Leon snorted, and she frowned. Sitting up slowly, she spotted him in the kitchen, tinkering with one of the cabinets, fully dressed now, but hair still plastered to his skull.

"Sorry." She grumbled, staring hard at the coffee table.

He glanced over at her, not looking half as embarrassed as Tifa felt, and gave a small shrug. "Forget about it."

I wish I could, she frowned, putting her face in the pillow and dropping to her stomach on the couch again.

He walked past the couch and she heard Duke clatter off the recliner, trailing after him.

She sat up again, "I want to take her for a walk."

Leon blinked, "Okay."

"I mean…I need to…get out of here…" Tifa said, nearly tripping on the coffee table again as she tugged on her coat, "Plus it's, like, thirty degrees out there and you're still…wet."

He surrendered the leash and Tifa snatched it away before he could see her face turning scarlet. She hooked the clasp around Duke's collar, and the dog was immediately bolting toward the door, ready for her walk.

Without another word, Tifa slipped out of the apartment, closed the door behind her, and leaned against the wall. Breathing carefully, she looked to Duke. The dog just swished her tail back and forth, ears up, and demanding that the walk start NOW.

A beat passed, and Tifa abruptly heard Leon laughing in the apartment.

Her knees nearly buckled and she gripped the leash, stepping away from the wall. A laugh from Leon was a rarity, and she found herself grinning stupidly despite herself. Well, it was nice to her know that her humiliating herself was amusing to him.

"Come on, girl." Tifa wheezed, leading the dog down the hallway.

The cool wind outside helped combat the blood filling her cheeks, and she slowly got her heart rate back under control. Knock, she told herself. Always, always knock from then on.

She started laughing at herself as she and Duke stepped out onto the sidewalk. One thing for sure, those rumors about the gunblade 'making up' for something…They were LIES!

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N:** Hm…No real witty closing statements this time…Lovely prompts as always!


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are McCallister and Nestor. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**149 – What Vexes All Men**

_For justagirl8225_

"Oh come on."

"It's no use, Yuffie." Aerith said, hands on her hips, "You're wasting your breath."

Yuffie ignored the older girl, glaring at Leon, "It is, like, a bazillion degrees."

"No." Leon said, staring ahead at the waves instead of at her.

Cid snorted at the girl, sitting back in his lawn chair, beer in one hand, cigarette in the other. This was the first beach-worthy day of summer, and the whole Restoration Committee had decided to take the day and run with it. He figured the girls just wanted to traipse around in their new bikinis. They were adults, do what they want, but if that horndog Jake Alms showed up, he would send that little dweeb packing.

All of the beaches around the sea were rock hard and covered in sharp shards, so everybody always went to the beach of Radiant Garden Lake. Not as glamorous as the ocean, but big enough to accommodate everybody.

The youngest of the group seemed determined to get Leon into the water, or more importantly, to notice her new swimming suit. Cid knew she'd never admitted it, but Yuffie had been trying to impress Leon since day one. Deep down, the quiet young man had a soft spot for her, but in an annoying little sister kind of way, not the way Yuffie wanted to have soft spot.

But what did Cid know of that mess?

While Yuffie harassed Leon, Aerith plopped back down into the sand beside Tifa and started working on a sand castle. They were both too old for sand castles, but they were too young to be beach codgers like him and Merlin, so whatever. The old sorcerer had dolloped a mass of white sunblock on his big nose.

"She's got a point." Cid reclined in his seat, "It's hotter'n hell and that don't mix with black leather pants."

"Ha!" Yuffie pointed at his support.

Leon ignored Cid completely and looked at Yuffie flatly. "I don't do shorts."

He looked past her distractedly and seemed to pause for a long moment before averting his eyes back to the waves. Both Cid and Yuffie followed his line of sight. A small rogue wave of the tide had lapped up onto the pathetic looking castle that Aerith and Tifa had been plodding away at, and by some grave misfortune, sand had ended up on Tifa's ample front. She absently tried to brush the sand away from the…provocative zone…hence Leon's distraction.

Cid laughed at that, "No, but I bet Tifa could get you naked right now if she just looked over here and told you to."

He'd never seen so much blood fill a face so fast.

Yuffie balked, "Ack, Cid!" She made a face, turned, and stomped off, though it turned into a sort of whimsical saunter as she reached the waves, so she couldn't be that upset.

"What did you say?" Aerith said in that tone.

Cid lifted his shoulders as Leon abruptly stood, mumbling something about 'stupid' and 'hate sand'. "Nothin'!" He said innocently.

Merlin lifted his sunglasses from his eyes from where he sat a few yards away. "Something about Tifa getting Leon naked. Or vice versa. I'm not quite sure."

Aerith lifted a hand to her mouth to stifle the laugh. Tifa didn't try to stifle hers. Leon turned even more red, if that was possible, and turned to leave the beach. Even the back of his neck was scarlet. Tifa pursed her lips hard to cut down the laughter.

"Aw, we're just kidding, Leon." Aerith said, while Tifa threw a wad of sand at him.

"Yeah, I promise I won't try to get you naked." Tifa added, then looked to Cid. "How on earth did you guys get on THAT subject?"

"Oh I don't know, Sandy." Cid made a vague gesture.

Tifa looked down, snorted, and snatched up her towel, wrapping it around herself and jogging after Leon, who was making good headway to get the hell outta there. The man didn't turn around when she called after him, but his stride slowed a bit to let her catch up. As she exited stage left, Cloud entered stage right, eyebrow lifted.

"What was that?" He asked, pointing his thumb after Tifa.

Merlin lifted his sunglasses again, "If I follow correctly, they're going to get naked." He frowned, "But I don't find that very appropriate."

Cid guffawed at Cloud's expression as the poor guy looked to Aerith for clarification.

The flower girl was absolutely no help, however, as she just shrugged her shoulders. "It IS about a bazillion degrees."

And Cid just burst out laughing.

**..:-X-:..**

**150 – Up to the Highest Height**

_For justagirl8225_

It was a blustery afternoon in Radiant Garden. On the walk back from Merlin's, Leon was nearly run over by a herd of ten years olds—and Yuffie—who were eager to dust off their kites and send them skyward in the first mild day of the spring.

Now the blue sky was dotted with the brightly colored kites, swishing to and fro. Some seemed to dive bomb out of sight when they caught the wrong wind current. The park was a field of insanity, with all the kids romping around and kites attacking people, but he figured that was where Tifa would be. And he was right.

Most of the Restoration Committee was there actually. Yuffie was running around, trying to physically throw her kite into the air. Aerith was laughing at her energetic failures. Cid wasn't smoking for once, but Leon doubted the liquid in that big jug was water. Cloud was sitting on the park bench next to Aerith, but he looked amusingly out of place. Leon didn't see Merlin immediately, but he didn't doubt the tottery old wizard was out in the park somewhere.

Tifa was in her own little bubble, not too far from the rest of the gang, but far enough that idle conversation was effectively ruled out. Cid spotted Leon and sent a wave. He returned it, ducked Yuffie's Stealth Bomber-esque kite maneuvers, and nodded to Aerith and Cloud before making his way over to Tifa.

"And you say I lurk." He greeted.

She was lying on her back on the grass, gazing up at the kites and the clouds in the sky. "Shut up. I'm not lurking."

"You've stationed yourself away from the main group," He commented, standing over her and following her gaze. "You're not talking to anybody, and you look like you're in deep thought…You're a lurker."

She swatted at his leg. "Shut up." She smirked, "You're blocking my view."

"Well, can't have that." He exhaled, sitting on the grass beside her.

She grunted, "You're in a good mood today…Kites cheer you up or something?"

He lifted his shoulders, "You're lurking; I'm in a good mood…These things do happen."

"Yeah, yeah." She patted the grass next to her. "Take your good mood and lie down or go away."

Leon snorted and reclined on the grass beside her. His shoulders had hardly touched the grass when Tifa shimmed over, turned her body, and dropped her head on his chest. She fluffed her hair off the ground and resumed looking at the kites.

He paused, blinked. "I'm not a pillow."

"Close enough." She said, "I was laying on a rock anyway."

She made no motion to move, and he exhaled, just letting her be. He couldn't figure out if she was in a 'weird mood' or not, but he thought it best not to poke the bear…Besides, this was almost comfortable…so…whatever.

At the edge of his periphery, he saw Yuffie's kite take another nose dive toward the trees, a little too close for comfort. Tifa shifted slightly in surprise. Leon smirked and looked up at the sky again. It was like a sky army of pinks, yellows, and reds darting around in the wind, long tails and ribbons trailing after them.

Aerith was laughing across the walkway, but he didn't look over.

"I think maybe I should—" Tifa started.

Leon lifted a hand and placed his palm over her mouth. "Shush."

She made an annoyed noise and shook her head to dislodge his hand. He grinned and kept his hand in place to mess with her. Tifa grunted and promptly licked the inside of his palm.

"Ah." He lifted his hand, wiping it on his pant leg. "You're disgusting."

She gave a triumphant little laugh that he felt in his ribs, where her head still was. Yuffie was hollering something nearby, and Leon saw the top of her head bob by, nearly dragging the kite after her in another desperate attempt to get it in the air.

Instead, the kite careened sideways, on a direct trajectory to them. Tifa yelped and rolled sideways, lifting her hands to her face. Leon raised a hand. "Aero."

The brief wind spell caught the underbelly of the kite, sending it skyward so fast that the string was nearly ripped out of Yuffie's hands.

"Ah ha!" She yelled. "Told you I'd do it! You owe me ten munny, Cid!"

"I don't owe you nothin'!"

Leon looked sideways to see Tifa looking at him, framed by the sky full of kites. She suddenly smiled and without a word, returned to her spot, her head almost on his shoulder now. He blinked, nonplussed, and settled back into the grass; his arm involuntarily dropped to her shoulders. Before he could take it back, she leaned into it. So he just left it there.

**..:-X-:..**

**151 – Part of the Plan**

_For justagirl8225_

Broken glass and heated steel littered the molten ground across the computer room in Ansem's office. The latest breakdown in the security system had let the Heartless break into the old office wing of the castle. From the looks of things, the Heartless themselves hadn't come inside. They had launched a few fireballs, though.

There was enough damage to stop work on Space Paranoids for a few weeks. Leon grunted, stepping over one of the smoldering lumps of ash.

"Tron, are you still online?" He asked, ducking around a few raw wires that were hanging down from the wall.

"Ye-ye-yes." Was the staticked response. "I'm ha-having di-f-f-f-ficulty rebooting the sys-syst-em."

"Power down." Leon said, glancing around the mess. "Don't overheat."

"Right." The computer screen dimmed and the control panel went dark.

Leon stepped around the partially collapsed projector and nearly jumped out of his skin when he spotted Tifa sitting on the very edge of the control panel, hugging her knees.

"Tifa." He exhaled, "What are you doing here?"

"I was working on the computer when the attack hit." She offered with a shrug.

He looked at her incredulously. She looked uninjured at least… "Where are your shoes?"

"Er…" She looked down at her bare feet. "They got wet."

He glanced at the flaming wreckage around them. "How exactly?"

"Well…before." She gave an absent gesture. "There was a sinkhole and it got all in my boots, so I took them off to let them dry and…How was I supposed to know the Heartless would try to set the whole place on fire?" She huffed.

He rolled his eyes and stepped over to her, shards of glass crunching under his boots as he walked across the sizzling steel floor. "Are you okay, at least?"

"At least." She snorted, "Now get over here and help me."

"I'm coming, I'm coming." He sighed, crossing over to her. "Where are your shoes?"

"Um…" She glanced over at the main mess of burning rafters. "They WERE over there."

Leon was in no mood to dig through that mess, so he just walked the rest of the way to the spot where she was sitting. "Here." He offered a hand.

She loosed her arms from her knees, but didn't take his hand. Instead, she made a turn-around gesture with her fingers. He rolled his eyes and turned his back to her. She scooted to the edge of the panel and moved her arms around his neck, hooking her legs around his waist. He slipped his arms under her knees to secure her there and promptly stepped away from the control panel.

"This'll teach you to keep your shoes." He grumbled, carrying her piggyback toward the main office where the least damage was.

He could almost hear her grinning. "They were soaked, don't give me that."

Her breath was warm on the back of his neck and it made his skin tingle. He cleared his throat and kept walking, careful to keep her balanced back there.

"Oh, Leon, you're so strong!" She teased in a fairy voice.

"Shut up." He grunted, "You're lucky I was here. You would have been stuck there for a while." He quickly crossed the catwalk into the untouched portion of Ansem's office.

"Just because I don't have shoes doesn't mean I'm helpless." She tutted, locking her arms more tightly around his neck, "This is just more fun that using a ton of Blizzard spells to cool the floor."

"And the glass?"

"And using a ton of Aero spells to blow the glass away."

"Well, that's resourceful."

"I'm never without a plan."

"So the sinkhole…"

"…shut up." She ruffled his hair, just to annoy him.

Leon grimaced and deposited her on the desk. She let go of him and sat there for a moment, and when he turned around, he realized that in the light of the office, she actually had sustained a mild burn on her jaw. He sighed and offered her a Potion.

"Never without a plan, huh?"

Tifa took the bottle and winked, "You're always part of the plan."

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 150:** Title from the Let's Fly a Kite song from Mary Poppins…which was stuck in my head whilst writing this…No affiliation or ownership!

Lovely prompts! Thank ya bunches!


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are Duke and McCallister. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**152 – Modern Art**

_For justagirl8225_

Leon hadn't seen McCallister that shade of red since her new recruit days…not counting the time a civilian accidentally nailed her in the face with pepper spray. To the hair, she looked ready to either hit someone or cry…neither of which he desired at the moment.

And then there was Duke…or what he assumed was Duke, on the fraying leash around McCallister's wrist.

"I'm sorry, sir." She said tightly.

Duke just stood there between the two soldiers, drenched in every color of paint that Leon had ever seen, and some he couldn't quite put a name to. Her tail, a bright green color, was wagging back and forth, sprinkling some of the paint on the wooden floor of Merlin's house. Red and some ugly purple color were splotched across her muzzle and the thicker fur of her chest. He grimaced, tilting his head to inspect the full extent of the…abstract artwork that had been his dog just two hours earlier.

"The cans were all sealed and stacked properly." McCallister went on. "I left her alone for just three minutes, five at most, and when I got back—it was total carnage." She averted her eyes to the dog, either out of embarrassment or horror, he couldn't tell.

Maybe the private was expecting a scolding or punishment of some sort…Leon kept his arms folded as Duke eyed him, ears lifted. It was hard to be honestly angry when your dog looks like she escaped from a clown mass murder. In all absolute honesty, he was fighting everything not to crack a smile at the spectacle.

McCallister actually seemed upset about the whole ordeal, anyway, and she probably wouldn't appreciate him laughing at her. In fact, she seriously looked ready to cry…That bothered him. She had been acting odd—well, more odd than usual—lately. He recognized stress and exhaustion when he saw it. She was one bar brawl and a gallon of ice cream away from a meltdown…and he found himself wanting to know why.

Meanwhile, she was misinterpreting his silence.

"I've already put Cooper and Harper on cleaning the storage room." She started rambling, "I'll clean her up myself. I'm sorry, sir, I didn't realize she could knock over those cans—they were huge."

Leon let her ramble, squatting down and taking Duke's jaw in one hand, turning her face aside to see if any of it was in her ears or mouth. It looked clear. He looked at his hand. Bright blue paint from Duke's neck had coated his palm and he gave McCallister a flat look.

The private lifted her hands, which were nearly dripping orange. "I'll get right on it. Most of the paint is still wet—er, I guess you figured that out already—I mean—as soon as—"

She flippantly gestured with her hands, and a generous spatter of the orange paint was flung off her fingers haphazardly. Leon just blinked as most of the flung paint landed on his face. McCallister froze, naked horror in her eyes now…Seriously, she had been his intern for how long and she was still this…weird?

"I—I'm s-so sorry." She looked at her hands as though to curse them off.

Exhaling, Leon gestured her to come closer. Duke sat on her haunches beside him, her tail sweeping green across the floor in earnest now. McCallister hung her head and stepped closer, kneeling down beside him when he didn't stand up.

She was the first soldier he had trained personally, recruited her from the field and made her an example for other green recruits to measure up to. He could tell when she was passed the brink…and she was passed the brink. He had no idea why or how to go about figuring out why, but he couldn't send her home. She was one of his, which meant she needed to be doing something constantly or she'd go insane.

Still without a word, he looked at McCallister, lifted his hand, and smeared the blue paint across her jaw. The private blinked, bewildered for a moment. He smirked and stood, taking up a towel to wipe the orange off his face. McCallister sighed, shook her head, and stood as well.

"Thanks." She grunted, taking up Duke's leash again. "I'll—uh—I'll go wash her off."

He nodded and couldn't fight the grin anymore. God, she looked ridiculous…both of them did. McCallister caught his smirk and some of the weight slid off her shoulders. She turned and led Duke out of the front door, narrowly missing Tifa, who leapt aside at the sight of Duke like the dog was an active bomb.

McCallister excused herself, and as she disappeared, Tifa looked to Leon and lifted an eyebrow. Between McCallister looking ready to cry and Leon looking ready to lose it, Tifa looked utterly bewildered. "What did you do?" She put her hands on her hips.

"Me? I didn't do anything." Leon snorted, looking aside. "McCallister needs a day off."

"Aw…" Tifa tilted her head, "The ice man cares."

"Of course I care. She's one of mine." Leon was surprised he came out and said it, but before Tifa could laugh at him, he turned and went back to work on the computer.

She laughed at him anyway.

**..:-X-:..**

**153 – These Things Unsaid**

_For raiko. EXE_

Three days…Three days and the water was. Still. Out. Tifa grumbled to herself, snatching up her shower supplies and stepping out of her bathroom. She had no idea what had caused her bathroom to short out, but it was annoying as all get out. Not to mention inconvenient. Particularly when she was soaked in mud from head to toe from a mission gone awry in the Borough.

Leon's door was open and he was in the middle of brushing his teeth as she stomped in, still grumbling, and turned on the water in the shower.

"Good afternoon to you too." He grunted around the toothbrush.

"Did they call today?" She responded, stepping fully dressed into the shower and pulling the curtain closed. The water was still lukewarm and she gritted her teeth.

"No." He replied. "You look like a swamp monster."

"Bite me."

She heard him snort at her from the other side of the curtain as she was stripping out of her ruined, mud caked clothes. She had half a mind to throw the clothes at him…but he had been honestly flexible with letting her take over his bathroom this week, so she refrained. Besides, the water was starting to really heat up now and Kingdom Hearts, did it feel good.

"They said it might take a few days." He was saying.

"It's been a few days." She grumbled, lathering up a big dollop of soap and attacking the mud glued to her skin. "Did you tell them there was an angry woman involved?"

"Apparently it's not an isolated thing. Half of the building went out." He went on, and she heard him moving around as she rinsed off and began to repeat the process.

"Well, the water company should be more prepared." She whined, lathering up her hair until she was sure it was a mass of foam and bubbles. Rinse, repeat, lather, rinse.

He didn't respond to that, but he had probably stepped out. The way he got all awkward and red when she barged in to take a shower was…adorable, honestly. She almost enjoyed how uncomfortable he was. The teasing ('when was the last time you had a naked woman in your shower?') hadn't been as entertaining as she thought it would have been, so it faded out quickly.

Tifa rinsed off one final time and, deeming herself human again, turned off the water and started to wring out her hair. It only took one glance to realize—

"Oh crap…" She groaned, "Leon, are you still here?" She poked her head out of her curtain.

He wasn't in the bathroom, but he leaned into view from the bedroom at her yell. "What?" He asked flatly…Yup, red as a tomato…

She smiled despite herself. "I, uh, forgot to grab a towel."

For a brief moment, Leon just stood there blinking, and then abruptly shook his head and reached out of her line of sight. Tifa looked down at herself, perplexed by his expression. Nope, she was completely covered. Shrugging it off, she looked up as he stepped back over, offering the towel. She took it from him.

"Thanks."

He just grunted and left again, closing the bathroom door after himself to give her more privacy. She proceeded to towel herself off before realizing—

"Dammit, Tifa, what is wrong with you today?" She chided herself, noting that she hadn't grabbed any fresh clothes to change into either.

Well…she definitely wasn't going to bother Leon with THAT.

Wrapping the towel around herself and making sure she was covered, she gathered up her stuff and slipped out of the bathroom. A thought bubble nibbled at the base of her brain as she stepped across his bedroom to the door to the living room. She had caught Leon looking at her in that awkward, tomato way a lot lately…Oh dear god, had he caught HER doing that?

Stuck in her own head, she stepped into the living room.

Chicken, chicken, chicken, just say something!

"Man, I needed that," She cleared her throat, "Hey, I was wondering—"

She looked up and froze. Leon stood by the open door—she hadn't even heard anyone knock!—and just outside stood Yuffie and…Cloud. She nearly dropped her towel.

"You really needed…what?" Yuffie was wearing a shit-eating grin. "Did you two just—"

A beat passed.

Tifa, wearing only one of Leon's towels, looked from Yuffie, to Cloud, to Leon, and then slowly backstepped into Leon's room—the closest hiding place—and closed the door.

**..:-X-:..**

**154 – Clear as Mud**

_For Handwritten_

"Junk, junk, junk, bills, junk…" Tifa thumbed through the mail, sitting at the kitchen table in the apartment. "Junk, you—" she tossed the envelope onto the counter at Leon, who was scribbling on something or other. "—junk, me, bills…oh crap."

"What?" He asked, not looking up.

She grimaced as she opened the letter, "Last week when I was in Enchanted Castle, Belle got all wound up to throw another ball…Now she's throwing it, and she invited me."

"Ah…and the 'oh crap' is…"

"You know how those parties get. All dancing and roses and no alcohol…I'll never survive." She squinted as she continued reading. "Oh, I get a plus one."

Leon looked at her, sensing it coming.

"So…" She gave a mock-sneaky look. "Want to pretend to be my date?"

A sudden flare of exasperation took him by surprise and he frowned, setting his pen down. "Why do you do that?"

Tifa blinked, "Do what? Ask? All right, sorry—" She shrugged.

"No, not that." He gave an absent gesture. "Never mind."

"What?" She pressed, setting the mail on the table.

"Forget it." He dropped his eyes to his work again.

"No, tell me." She huffed.

He abruptly looked at her. "It's just that you're always—Is this some joke to you?"

She looked confused. "I literally have no idea what you're talking about."

"First Andrea's wedding, and then—"

"You think I'm using you?" She stood now. "Because you've dragged me to enough of these things to make up for me dragging you to mine."

"But I don't try to pass you off as someone you're not." He tried to keep his voice even.

"Oh." Tifa's voice told him the torpedo was in the water now. "You want to open that box, buddy? Because I'm sure this—" She tossed her long, dark hair, "—doesn't remind you of anyone."

She crossed the line, she knew it immediately. He knew it too, but he let the unsaid accusation roll off for the time being.

"I'm just—" He searched for the words, "I'm tired of you…constantly…trying to make crystal clear what is not."

"Speak English!" She smacked her hand onto the table. "I don't understand what you mean when you're like this."

"Pretending." He finally snapped, facing her fully. "Why are you so preoccupied with putting that big word 'pretend' in front of it every time you drag me to stuff? I don't mind being the plus one, I really don't, so why do you mind it so much?"

Tifa's back straightened, "It's called 'pretend' because it's not real."

"What isn't real?" His voice went up despite his attempt to keep it level. " 'and guest' doesn't HAVE to mean a date, and if it did, you make damn sure to let everyone, including me, especially me, know that it's pretend, not real, fake."

"Because we aren't dating!" She spread her hands, "We aren't together. We aren't a couple. I don't want people to get the wrong idea."

"You seemed fine with it when Andrea was giving you a hard time." He snapped, and then sighed, running a hand over his forehead.

"What do you want from me?" She asked, her voice quiet now, the dangerous quiet.

In all honesty, he had no idea what he wanted.

"I'm just tired of playing pretend." He said, exasperated, "If you want a date to this or that, I'll be there…but stop with the 'pretend' because…because it's making me crazy."

Tifa made a frustrated gesture, "Leon," Her voice kicked up a notch too, "A date means something."

Leon wasn't sure why his stomach decided to lodge itself in his throat then, but it did, and he shook his head and crossed to the door. "Would that be so terrible?"

He slammed the door after himself before she could respond.


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are McCallister and Duke. I swear I haven't died! I've been uber-busy and the Internet was hating me. I'm back now though! Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**155 – Something There that Wasn't There Before**

_For justagirl8225_

"Tropical beaches, surf-worthy waves, and gorgeous blue sky: of course I took the mission." Tifa affirmed as she and Aerith finished packing away the old glass potion bottles.

"I was just curious," Aerith shrugged, "I thought maybe you were trying to get away—"

"Away? From what?" Tifa bristled, but kept her back to the other woman.

"Well…you and Leon don't seem to be hanging out much lately."

"That's because we're not sixteen. Adults don't 'hang out'." Tifa remarked.

"You know what I mean." Aerith smiled softly. "Did you have a fight?"

"What? Why do you say that? Did he say something to you?" Tifa narrowed her eyes but realized too late how she sounded. She huffed and turned back around.

Aerith looked understanding, "He's Leon. He doesn't tell anybody anything about things like that…except to you."

Tifa's face burned and she started shuffling through more storage boxes. "I took the mission because Stitch has been a menace around Radiant Garden and he needs to go back to his own home world. And beaches…because of the beaches."

"Did you hear what I said?" Aerith prompted gently.

"Yes, I heard you, and I hear what you're getting at and no." Tifa snapped back.

"Why are you two fighting?" The other woman pressed.

Tifa swallowed a smart remark and exhaled in exasperation instead, "He's the one with the problem, not me. I'm just miffed because he's—trying to change things."

"Everything changes."

"What if I don't want it to?" Tifa finally faced Aerith. "Every time something changes, I get clobbered. Cloud shows up, I get clobbered. He fights Sephiroth, I get clobbered. He chooses—he doesn't choose me, and I get clobbered. I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't, so I'm just trying to spare myself the pain here." She inhaled sharply.

Aerith swallowed and averted her eyes briefly, "I've known Leon for a long time…I don't think you completely understand what he did…Trying to change things…that's a big—BIG—step for him, in his own way...Since Rinoa, he hasn't really—"

"I don't want to hear about Rinoa." Tifa waved her off, going after another box. "I'm comfortable where Leon and I are, and he just—"

"Tifa." Aerith was almost laughing at her, "Connect the dots, girl."

It felt like a sledge hammer landed on Tifa's chest and she looked back to Aerith. "What?"

Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it…

"He's totally falling in love with you—and you're kind of blowing it." Aerith put her hands on her hips. "Has he ever given you a reason to distrust him? You think you'll 'get clobbered' if you try?"

I trusted Cloud too, Tifa thought, but stayed quiet. Aerith's words slowly sank into her fried brain…Was it possible? She looked sharply to Aerith, who was smiling.

"You two are the only ones who don't see it." She stated.

"He—but if—and—when the—I—" Tifa sputtered like an idiot and then spun on her heel. "I have a mission to get to."

"Find him before you leave. Talk things over." Aerith walked after her.

"He's on patrol. I won't find him before I have to leave with Stitch."

"Then just be late." Aerith shrugged, "I'd say you have a reason."

Trying not to completely flip out and take off running for Leon's patrol route, Tifa stiffly walked to the door. "I can't. I'll…We'll work things out when I get back. He'll…I mean, he'll still be here, he promised." She turned to leave.

"You're falling in love with him too." It was a statement, not a question.

Tifa's hand paused on the knob. She sighed and her forehead dropped against the door. A long silence passed between the two; each second was more incriminating than the last.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Tifa exhaled, slipping out the door and heading for the hangar.

Aerith didn't call after her; she didn't have to, and Tifa mentally kicked herself all the way to the mission. The beach suddenly didn't sound so appealing.

**..:-X-:..**

**156 – R-E-S-P-E-C-T**

_For raiko. EXE_

"Fifteen." McCallister informed, holding the clipboard.

Leon exhaled, looking out at the group of soldiers. Fifteen new recruits, and he had to weed it down to the five that he really needed. It was evaluation week and time to select the recruits to intern in the training program. McCallister had been taking statistics on them all week, and he had looked at the results for an hour before trimming it down to fifteen.

"Permission to be blunt?" The private kept her eyes forward, at the group.

He grunted, arms folded beside her.

"The entire left half is worthless in the head." McCallister gestured toward the left side of the group of recruits. "They talk back and their conversations are…distasteful."

He pursed his lips to stop the smirk at her tone. "Well, they can't all be you."

Some color touched McCallister's cheeks at the compliment, but she huffed. "Brigadier General Lockhart finished her recruit selection before she left on mission two days ago." She handed him the clipboard, "So there."

He eyed her. "You're being sassy today."

"Sorry." She folded her arms, "These recruits just irritate me."

Leon snorted and glanced down the stats list, scanning some of the names.

"Maybe Cs." One of the recruits was mumbling to the others.

"Dude, I've seen Cs," Another replied smartly, "Those have gotta be Ds."

"Have either of you actually ever seen real breasts?" A third guffawed, "I'm telling you, hers can't be real."

Leon's eye twitched and McCallister groaned, "Absolutely worthless in the head."

A fourth chimed in with, "Real or not, can you say motorboat?"

"Is there a size E?" One of the recruits tapped his chin, "Because there's no way the Brigadier General Lockhart could—"

"You four." Leon snapped, as soon as he heard that, "You're out."

The four soldiers blinked at him, "Sir?"

"Get off my training field." He gestured for the exit.

They exchanged looks and McCallister shooed them away.

Of all the crass…disrespectful…worthless urchins that he had come into contact with…how had those lunatics managed to survive this long in the trials without getting fired? Besides…they were blowing it out of proportion. Tifa's bra size was no one's business…and he only knew because of a laundry mishap.

…It didn't matter…There was no room for that lack of professionalism in his crew.

"Good call." McCallister said under her breath as she leaned over to pick up the other books on the bench.

It only took a few pairs of wandering eyes to McCallister's…to McCallister for Leon nearly snap that clipboard in half.

"You four…you're out too." He barked. "And you two…get out."

The offending recruits looked startled at their dismissal and McCallister straightened as soon as she realized what they had been eying on her. She bundled her coat closer around her and snatched the clipboard back from him.

"Er…that's five." She said quietly.

Leon fumed and eyed the remaining five recruits…If they could control their eyes and their hormones long enough, that would make his life and his blood pressure a lot better.

"Five am." He snapped. "Meeting at the quad for training. Dismissed."

The five new interns all did their self-contained celebrations at being chosen. There, now they were a member of the elite. Leon's elite. Sure, Tifa hadn't spoken more than a rushed goodbye to him since their…fight?...before going on her mission…but he'd be damned if he let any of HIS soldiers get caught dead talking about her like that…Or McCallister for that matter.

As he marched off, disgruntled, McCallister slipped over to the five remaining interns.

"Word of advice from the wise." She snapped her fingers to get their attention. "He's hard but he's fair…But the fastest way to get a boot in the ass is to talk about the Brigadier General. So my advice: don't talk about the Brigadier General…or her assets!"

The five recruits looked at her wide eyed, nodded, and continued their celebrating.

**..:-X-:..**

**157 – Get Lei'd**

_For justagirl8225_

"A grass skirt for Aerith." Tifa handed over a little bag. "Exotic salted fish for Cid. This massive conch for Yuffie…and a flowered shirt for Merlin."

She handed out the souvenirs from her mission with Stitch. She had only been back for an hour or so, but she was sunburned and wearing a dozen different colored leis and in good spirits so…yeah. It was a nice dusting of the tropics in the cool climate of Radiant Garden.

That mini-vacation had been just what she needed: time to relax and time to think.

"Thanks." Aerith fluffed out the skirt.

Yuffie was making faces as she tried to hear the ocean in her shell. Merlin chuckled at his shirt and thanked her as well.

"Ooh, I'm cooking these tonight." Cid chuckled, "What kind are they?"

"I have no idea, but they're big and they're fish." Tifa beamed.

She had seen Leon's squad in the training sector when her Gummi came in to land. He was probably out there, ordering around the frantic recruits: so he was probably in a good mood. Well, she was in a good mood, and if he was in a good mood too…this whole quarrel might just get swept under the rug…But she wasn't sure if that's what she wanted.

The first opportunity she got, she snuck out of Merlin's house and to the training grounds. Leon's back was turned to her as she walked up to him, watching the soldiers squirm through drills. How to start this…I'm sorry? Forgive me? My bad?...Bah, she hated apologies, and especially with Leon, because the man was so damned hard to figure out.

Drawing a breath, she plucked one of the leis from her neck and stepped up behind him. She reached up and dropped the thing over his head from behind. Leon started slightly, looked down, and then turned around to find the person responsible.

"There." Tifa greeted, "You just got lei'd."

He regarded her for a quiet beat and then cleared his throat, "You're back."

"I'm…back." She nodded once.

Way more awkward than she'd thought this would be.

"I wanted to…talk." She abruptly stated.

"Okay." He took a few steps away from the recruiting drill and she walked with him.

Another beat passed, and then they both started talking at the same time.

"I shouldn't have jumped down your throat—"

"I'm sorry I was being weird—"

They both stopped again, unsure what to do now.

What was she doing? Leon was her best friend…But since her conversation with Aerith…Why was she finding it so hard to keep eye contact with him? This was Aerith's fault, Tifa just knew it. If the flower girl hadn't opened her big mouth and said that four lettered L word…then Tifa and Leon would be fine, without this weirdness, and awkwardness and…they'd be…where they had always been…

Tifa had never questioned if that was enough before…and now Leon had put it out there and Aerith had prodded about it…Was it enough? This was Aerith's fault. She'd hunt her down later…Leon looked a little concerned…She was being too quiet…She should do something.

"Are you sure you're—" He started.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she reached up, grabbed his collar, and pulled him to her. Their faces sort of crashed together in the boldness of the motion, but she managed to find his lips and kissed him abruptly. The tug pulled him off balance, but he only staggered once before turning his head into hers. The kiss stabilized and went long.

Any and all other coherent thought went out the window as Tifa's brain overloaded with: I'm. Kissing. Leon. This time she gave herself to it, not withdrawing before he did, but rather letting her hands find his shoulders, holding him in place as he kissed her back. The taste of his mouth nearly buckled her knees. What was happening to her?

"What was that?" He asked, just above a whisper.

She hadn't even realized they'd stopped kissing. She opened her eyes. Oh, he was so close…Terrifyingly close…Wonderfully close. She smiled like an idiot. "Not sure…We can figure it out later."

He seemed satisfied by that, and she licked her lips. "So…" She went on, "I RSVP'ed to Belle's shindig…but, er, the 'plus one' spot is still open…if you want it."

Leon eyed her steadily for a long moment, as though to figure out what she was implying or not implying. "All right." He said slowly.

Tifa exhaled, still smiling, the constriction in her chest easing. "It's a date."


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as is McCallister. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**158 – Enforcer**

_For raiko. EXE_

"We aren't getting any younger!" Yuffie jeered.

"Just come on out." Aerith giggled.

"Okay." Tifa teased, and bounced out from behind the curtain. "TADA!"

After spending the better part of her first year back in Radiant Garden only wearing black, Tifa took a moment to enjoy the two women's startled looks at the new colors. It was a simple white cut off tank top, nothing really special there, except more stomach showing than she was used to.

The skirt, however, was very, very short, and very, very red. A thick banded black belt ran around the top, accentuating the curves of her hips. The gloves that matched the crimson hue were elbow length but fingerless, with several buckles and clasps winding around the forearms. The white tank top was, for all intents and purposes, backless. The two shoulder straps thinned and criss crossed over her shoulder blades, leaving her spine virtually bare. A single red strap, like one suspender, crossed from one hip, over the opposite shoulder, and back to the hip.

"Turn, turn, let's see it all!" Aerith made a twirly gesture with her hand.

Tifa smiled, giddy as she swiveled around, feeling like a model doing a fashion show. It had been years since she'd done this, or anything else close to a girls' day.

Yuffie and Aerith took their time ooh-ing and ah-ing at the outfit.

"Doesn't leave much to the imagination." Aerith tapped her chin with a smirk.

"You look like you're channeling your inner hooker…in a totally good way." Yuffie made a camera frame with her fingers and acted like she was taking pictures.

Tifa laughed and struck an exaggerated pose, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

"Work it!" Yuffie moved around like a member of the paparazzi.

"So what prompted this?" Aerith chuckled at their antics.

"Oh…you know," Tifa shrugged, looking at her reflection in the full body mirror. It was slightly tinted from age, but then again, Yuffie had found it in Merlin's attic, so she wasn't too surprised…She was more surprised that he owned a full body mirror. "A girl needs new clothes."

"You plan on being barefoot when you wear this?" Yuffie gestured to her feet, where Tifa had removed her old boots when she changed.

Tifa scoffed, hands on her hips, "Of course not." She said in mock offense. "I'll be wearing—" She reached back into the changing room with a flourish, pulling out the crimson boots. "—these!"

Aerith practically squeaked at the shoes. "They're cute!"

"Cute? Them be sexy!" Yuffie clapped her hands, "Instant nosebleed to any poor dude that runs into you!"

Any poor dude turned out to be Leon, as he happened to be walking through the back area of Merlin's house at that moment.

"Hey!" Yuffie leaned back, barking. "Leon, check out Tifa's new outfit!"

Leon looked over, probably more out of Yuffie yelling at him than because of what she actually said. Tifa smirked and struck her pose again.

"It's nice." He remarked, not slowing his stride as he walked.

Tifa felt herself deflate a little at the vague comment, but what did she expect? It was Leon, after all. Sure, after recent events, she had maybe been hoping for something a little more than 'nice'...like 'sexy' or 'hot damn' or 'c'mere so I can tear it off of you'…wait, what?

Her mental tangent was interrupted as Leon abruptly walked right into the table in the middle of the room. With an awkward stagger and spastic recovery, he paused, cleared his throat, and gave a little half glance back over at them, as if to see if they'd noticed. The three women just looked at him flatly. Tifa realized she was still in her pose.

"You look like a prostitute." He responded, but the corner of his mouth quirked.

Aerith didn't catch his tone and scoffed. Yuffie just snorted.

Tifa straightened, cocking one hip out. "You're a jerk." She smirked.

Leon eyed her brazenly and then tossed her a bag of munny. "That's no way to talk to a paying customer."

Tifa caught the munny and looked at it, "This'll get you an hour and a half."

He checked his watch, "My patrol is in two hours."

She tapped her chin, picked up her boots, and followed him out the door, leaving Yuffie and Aerith with high eyebrows and bewildered expressions.

**..:-X-:..**

**159 - Tears in the Rain**

_For justagirl8225_

Leon had been standing outside for…he couldn't even remember how long…but it was raining now. Hard enough to make the large stain of blood on his shirt front run. McCallister's blood.

It was a routine security mission, and he would have preferred to go alone. Fortunately or unfortunately, the Alliance required teams of at least two to run missions out in the old Radiant Garden castle ruins. The isolation and the danger were just too great for one person to deal with. Private McCallister had been the first person he happened onto en route, so she tagged along.

The Heartless had attacked, and when his attention was on one group, a second group had launched a blast at his chest hard enough that it would have, should have, killed him. Instead, out of instinct or some foolish drive, McCallister had blocked it.

Unfortunately, the time it took to block hadn't allowed for her to defend against it. The central point of the blast had nailed her in the side, slamming her into the ground, where she hadn't moved. His ether levels had been too low to heal her in the field, so Leon had been forced to carry the bleeding soldier all the way across the Great Maw and back to Merlin's.

Now they were inside fighting to save her: the idiot who'd tried to save him. Well…she'd successfully saved him, but…she knew her limitations. She had been fully aware what her actions to protect him would cost her…and yet she'd acted anyway.

"Dammit, McCallister." He hissed, leaning against the outside wall of Merlin's.

He was useless inside the house. He was still too drained from the battle to use any healing magic, and she was unconscious, so he couldn't talk to her…So he was choosing to just stand outside, out of the way, to deal with what had happened.

"Getting pneumonia won't help." Tifa's voice was quiet.

He didn't move, didn't look over at her as she stepped out of Merlin's house, closing the door after herself. This meant one of two things. Either the news was good and Tifa had come to tell him before the others, or the news was bad and only Tifa had the stomach to tell him.

She wordlessly walked over and stood against the wall beside him. Her eyes flitted to the blood on his clothes, but he offered no explanation. Didn't need to. He felt nauseas at the thought.

"She's alive."

Two words: two punches to the gut. Leon exhaled sharply at the release of the tension.

"She's a moron." He murmured.

Aerith would have scolded him. Yuffie would have smacked him. Cid would have sworn at him. Tifa just sighed and half turned to look across the square.

"She's awake." She offered.

Leon lifted a hand to his face. He couldn't look at McCallister like this. She had—Shame crept up on him, hard and fast. He was her superior officer; he was supposed to save her ass, not the other way around. If he had been paying attention, she wouldn't have—

"What the Hell was she thinking?" He hissed.

"She wasn't." Tifa remarked. "She just acted. Instinct. Loyalty. Training. She did exactly what you trained her to do."

"I never trained her to get herself killed."

"You trained her to protect those around her." Tifa looked at him, "That includes you, dumbass." She said softly.

He folded his arms and stared at the distance. "I trust her with my life; I just never expected that the time would come to prove that."

Tifa sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Well, it did and I think she deserves a word from her superior officer."

He sighed, looked at her, at the house, and back to her. "Why are you crying?"

"Because you won't." The tears blended silently in with the rain running over her face. "Because your best soldier just nearly killed herself to save you and you're sitting out here, covered in her blood, scolding her for it. She probably thinks—"

He inhaled slowly, "She knows."

"Tell her anyway." Tifa sniffed, "Thank her, stupid." She hooked one arm through his elbow, "Or at the very least, come inside and clean up. Getting sick is a piss poor way to pay somebody back…and you OWE her."

She was right. He knew it and he hated it. Steeling himself, Leon went back into Merlin's house, to face the woman who'd nearly been split in half to do what? To save him.

God only knew why.

**..:-X-:..**

**160 - Quicksand**

_For Atramentous Love_

One second, Yuffie was triumphantly skipping across the earthy lot, beaming with pride for having felled the entire pack of Heartless on her own…and the next second, she was disappearing with a yelp in the liquidy muck.

Tifa hadn't believed it at first, but the ground had definitely just swallowed the impulsive ninja. Quicksand…in Radiant Garden.

"Hold this." Leon snapped, handing her the end of a line of rope.

Tifa took the end and started winding it around her arm. "Since when is there quicksand here?"

"I don't know—Got it?" He said, having tied the other end of the rope around his waist, cinching it as tightly as possible.

"Yeah, what're—" She barely got out before Leon took three steps and jumped into the sloshy pit after Yuffie.

He disappeared just like he'd been swallowed, just like Yuffie. The rope slapped into the slush with him and Tifa held onto it, suddenly well aware that both of their lives were on the other end of this rope.

"Come on." She hissed.

The surface of it began to slow and calm…looking almost solid again.

Time may fly when you're having fun, but it's a bitch when you're waiting for something important…like two people to emerge breathing from a quicksand pit.

The rope rugged against her hands and Tifa braced her legs. It suddenly went taut and she nearly hit her knees from the surprising force of it. Gritting her teeth, she leaned back against the weight of it, giving Leon something to pull on.

For what felt like minutes, nothing happened. Then, like a herniating balloon, the surface of the pit distended and two heads morphed into semblance. One was coughing and sputtering and clinging onto the other one, who was grappling with the slick rope.

Tifa grunted as she forcefully took a step back, the fibers of the rope burning her palms. Yuffie held onto Leon, gasping for breath as he pulled them both toward the edge of the pit. Tifa restrained the urge to run to the edge and pull them to safety herself. She was the anchor; she had to keep a hold of this rope instead. Something abruptly pulled on the other end of the rope and she looked back in surprise to see Cid. He had come up behind her and grabbed the rope, adding his two cents to the 'anchor'.

"Go, I got this end." He ordered gruffly.

Tifa didn't need telling twice. She left the rope in his capable hands and darted to the edge of the quicksand pit, which the two marsh monsters had almost reached. She dropped to her knees and reached out, taking a hold of Yuffie as she was within reach. Yuffie reciprocated the grip with slick hands, and Tifa squeezed until her fingers were together around the girl's wrists, giving her enough grip to physically drag the smaller woman off of Leon's back, out of the pit, over the edge, and sprawling onto the solid concrete.

"Wh-what the H-Hell was th-that?" Yuffie was sputtering, coughing up and spitting out the mess that had gotten into her mouth.

Tifa knelt beside her and used her thumbs to try and clear the stuff from the girl's eyes, wiping as much as she could away from her face and mouth. "Quicksand." She replied.

Cid worked his way closer to the edge, using the rope to half pull, half drag Leon out of the pit, where he rolled onto his back and simply lay there, chest heaving. Cid grabbed his knees as he bent over, wiping away the sweat from his forehead, and then laughing, smacking Leon on the shoulder when the younger man sat up.

"Hot damn, you kids are nuts." He guffawed.

"I didn't KNOW there was quicksand here!" Yuffie sputtered, "I don't have a death wish!"

Seeing the girl relatively all right aside from half drowned in the muck, Tifa shifted over to Leon, who was completely indistinct from Yuffie aside from his sheer build. She laughed as he was clawing to get the stuff out of his ears. She reached over and cleared his eyes the same way she had with Yuffie.

"Are you even under there?" She chuckled.

He coughed, taking the towel that Cid offered. He attacked his ears with it. "Funny."

"Next time you pull something like that," She remarked, "Warn me beyond 'hold this'."

"Fine." He grunted

"You know, if your face wasn't covered in this crap, I'd be compelled to kiss you for that stunt." She smirked, "It was really—"

Leon promptly began to scrub the towel at his face.

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 158: **Tifa's outfit is her Enforcer from Dissidia.

**A/N 159:** You have no idea how much I wanted to make Leon cry…but it just didn't work. Stupid emotional blockage….I love him.

**A/N 160:** I got this prompt right after I watched Blazing Saddles, and it gave me a giggle fit. "What is it…that ain't exactly water…and it ain't exactly earth?...QUICKSAAAAAND!" Haha.

Yay for flirty prompts! Let me know if I need to amp up the spice more. I don't want their banter to stagnate. The ball toward couple-dom is rolling now. The torpedo in the water…and other colorful metaphors.

Lovely prompts as always!


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**161 – Pour Some Sugar on Me**

_For raiko. EXE_

Leon was sitting at the table in the break room of headquarters, chin in one hand, staring at the kitchen cabinets, eyes just starting to drift closed, when Tifa walked in, banging and clanking the whole way. He snapped back to himself, blinked several times, and groaned, rubbing his eyes. Sleep deprivation was the devil.

"What's wrong with you?" Tifa chirped, pouring herself a glass of milk.

"Lack of sleep." He grunted, watching her pull out the bottle of chocolate syrup. "You?"

"Why do you think something's wrong with me?" She asked, pouring some of the syrup into the glass of milk.

He stood and crossed to the coffee machine, pulling out the pot to pour himself a mug. "You don't go chocolate milk unless you're pissed." He noted.

Tifa looked at him flatly, "It's creepy when you do that." She sighed, "But you're right." She started mixing the concoction, "It's all because Yuffie found a foghorn and Cid thought—"

Leon wasn't sure if she just stopped talking or her lips stopped moving…either way, he stopped listening. She lifted the mixing table spoon out of the drink and sucked on it for a moment, taking her time as she tugged the spoon out of her mouth.

Picking up the chocolate syrup again, she popped off the lid and looked over at him. Her wine colored eyes were suddenly very large and very…soft looking.

"—but I love chocolate…" She was saying, slow and sultry.

Then she climbed on top of the kitchen counter, sitting on her knees, facing him. She tilted her head back and ate some of the chocolate syrup straight out of the bottle.

"It's so sweet and…sticky…" She continued, drawing a line of the chocolate from the bottle, over her bottom lip, down her chin, and then down her neck.

Leon just sat there, unable to think about why this would be an odd situation…unable to really think about anything at the moment except the fact that Tifa was suddenly wearing a set of deep red, lacy lingerie.

"Oops." Tifa didn't sound sorry at all as the chocolate syrup spilled down her neck, over her collar, inching slowly lower toward her breasts. "Clumsy me."

She turned her body and reclined across the counter, giving him a full side silhouette of her. "Now I'm a mess…" She did a little jiggle, and her hair spilled over her shoulders.

She still had the bottle of chocolate in her hand, and she drew a long line of the brown syrup up her leg, keeping her eyes on him the whole time. She propped the leg up. Her other arm hung off the edge of the counter, like she had just landed there and not gotten up.

Tifa traced a finger across the chocolate that had gathered on her stomach, lifted it to her mouth, and licked it off. "You want to help me clean it off?"

Leon stared at her, at a loss.

Literally, there was nothing going on in the Upstairs Brain at this moment.

"But first," She said, sitting up slightly in just the way that made every single one of her curves stand out. "I need to ask you a question."

She lowered her voice and faced him again, climbing off the counter. She sank to the floor and crawled on her hands and knees over to him, almost up into his lap.

"Do you like chocolate?"

Something was burning his hand.

"Leon!"

Leon blinked once, twice, and looked down. Coffee was spilling over his cup onto his hand, where he had been pouring it without regard to how full the mug was.

"Geez, pay attention much?" Tifa said, back in her normal clothes and not covered in…chocolate…as she grabbed up a towel to help clean up the coffee spill.

He grunted something along the lines of an apology before abruptly turning to walk out of the break room.

"Where are you going?" She called after him, "I was in the middle of a rant and now you want me to clean this up all on my own?"

"Er—" He mumbled, not daring to look over at her, knowing his face was red.

"Where are you going that's so important?" She barked after him.

"To take a cold shower." He threw over his shoulder.

There was a small crash in the kitchen. "Ah, great, now I spilled the syrup!"

Leon walked faster.

**..:-X-:..**

**162 – Cuddle in the Crossfire**

_For Atramentous Love_

"How do I get myself in these situations?" Leon grunted, slumping down in the back of the old green jeep.

Tifa was slouched against the side across from him, hugging one knee. "It's a talent."

He looked at her flatly, "We should just leave."

She frowned, hearing Aerith and Cloud still arguing. They had been calmly exchanging words for the past—she checked her watch—fifteen minutes, but now whatever they were arguing about was starting to get heated.

"We can't do that." She replied, eying him. "Then they'll know we were here the whole time. They'll be embarrassed and it'll be awkward."

"It's a fight. People fight."

"But this is different. It's personal."

"…So we're just eavesdropping instead." He folded his arms, "Makes sense."

She shot him a glare and slouched farther. "Aerith NEVER raises her voice and Cloud…well, c'mon…" She shrugged.

Leon's deadpan expression at that made her smile. "I was stuck in Merlin's for eight HOURS while you and him screamed at each other. I'm not doing that again."

"You want to make yourself known, get caught in the crossfire, and let them drag you down with them?" Tifa lifted an eyebrow, "I vote we hunker down, wait it out. They're both marshmallows around each other. This'll blow over."

Deep down, she wasn't sure about that. She had been trying with all her might not to listen in on the argument taking place just ten feet away from the jeep…Honestly, who decided to have a relationship fight in a garage?...Well, they probably thought it'd be empty and private.

"What possessed you to hide in the jeep in the first place?" Leon said, sounding irritable. It was probably the claustrophobia of the cramped jeep.

"What possessed you to hide in here with me, smartass?" She snapped back, but there was no heat in it.

He averted his eyes at that, looking like a pouting five year old. She snorted, tuning out the sharp voices outside as she shifted, sliding across the jeep and sitting directly beside him, their shoulders pressed together now.

"No." He looked away.

She chuckled at that, propping her head on his shoulder, "No what?"

"Don't snuggle up on me and expect me not to be irritated. I'm annoyed with you right now." He looked away.

"Aw." Tifa just invaded his space more, both to make him uncomfortable and because being close to him made her more comfortable. "No you're not."

Leon deflated and glared at her, but it was more playful this time. She offered a cheesy grin and he rolled his eyes. A yawn crept on her and she turned her face against his shoulder to stifle it. A quiet beat passed.

"This is juvenile." He muttered. "Why are we hiding in here? There's work to do."

She snorted, "You'd rather be working than cuddling in the back seat of a car with me?"

He made an exasperated noise and nudged her. "As soon as they leave, I'm out of here."

"Not if I fall asleep on you." She let the second yawn escape, closing her eyes.

"Don't—"

"I've been awake since four this morning. Tifa needs a nap." She said.

"Then go home."

"I'm comfortable right here." She poked his arm, leaving her head on his chest.

He sighed in defeat and she grinned in victory.

"You suck." He responded weakly, making himself more comfortable to stay in the back with her for a while.

"Yeah, yeah, and you're full of crap." She chuckled, closing her eyes.

"So when the others ask why I missed patrol…" He chided.

She didn't move, "Just tell them the truth: you were with me in the back seat of a car."

He rolled his eyes, but she just snickered and promptly took her nap.

**..:-X-:..**

**163 – Devil in Disguise**

_For justagirl8225_

It was a bad idea. Aerith thought she was helping, but it was going to backfire.

As if to illustrate this point, Cloud stomped into Merlin's house, looking for the flowergirl, looking as exasperated as Hell, and found only Leon, alone in the house with a beer and the gunblade in pieces on the table, cleaning it. Both men locked eyes for a startled moment, and it took all of that moment for Leon to figure out what had happened.

Aerith didn't understand why Cloud and Tifa's friendship had summarily deteriorated. So she had conned, threatened, and cold shouldered Cloud into attempting to talk it out with Tifa. Tifa didn't want anything to do with the blond at this point, and—by the spectacular bruise coming in on Cloud's face—she had finally gotten fed up and clocked him.

Now he had come back to show Aerith how impossible this little mission of hers was, and maybe get a little sympathy for his efforts. Instead, he had found only Leon, who had gotten his fill of Tifa and Cloud's arguing and was in no sympathetic mood. He'd made his position on this situation clear…as had Tifa's fist.

Still, he felt a pang of pity for Cloud. The man honestly had never meant to mess Tifa up the way he did. You couldn't control who you fell in love with or didn't fall in love with. Sure, the way he handled it made Leon want to throttle him, but then again, Tifa hadn't handled it with a large degree of elegance either.

But he would never tell her that. He was on her side…Someone had to be.

Besides, the idea of Tifa chasing after Cloud and trying to get his attention and his affections gave Leon a nauseating pit in his stomach, so he tried not to think about it.

"Nice shiner." He muttered.

Cloud's face said 'Bite Me', but his mouth said, "Where's Aerith?"

"Running errands." Leon set down the piece of the gunblade that he was cleaning. "Won't be back for another hour."

Cloud looked ready to just leave right then, but Leon sat up a little in his seat.

"She might be back sooner." He stood and shrugged, "You can wait here for her."

"No, I—"

"Right now, Tifa is doing one of two things." Leon interrupted, "She's either stomping around looking for Heartless to bash in, or wandering around looking for something to distract her from you." He tried to keep the lump out of his throat as he said it. "If I were you, I'd hide out here. Either way, you don't want to run into her again."

Cloud sighed and poked at the bruise. "You're right about that."

Leon grunted at that. He was in a constant state of irritation with Cloud. He couldn't be complacent with the man's flight risk and lack of emotional responsibility…but being irritated with him all the time was exhausting. He opened the fridge and stared hard at the interior of it for a long moment, collecting his thoughts on the matter.

"Here." He plucked out two beers, offering one to Cloud.

The other man hesitated, with good reason. Leon knew he wasn't Cloud's BFF any more than Cloud was his. But they had enough real enemies without being overly bitter at allies. So he offered the beer, an olive branch, a truce. The terms were clear.

_Take the beer, wait for Aerith, and stay away from Tifa._

_Stay out of my business, drop the holier-than-thou attitude, and take care of Tifa because I can't._

"Thanks." Cloud replied tersely, taking the beer.

The air in the room lost some of its chill.

Leon popped open his own beer and returned to the task of cleaning the gunblade. Tifa was most likely out bashing in Heartless right now. She had been less brooding and upset about the whole situation lately. She was really and actually getting over the whole ordeal, and if Leon was Cloud, he would stay away from her as much as possible in order to let her get over it.

Then again, if Leon was Cloud, he was pretty sure he wouldn't have mucked things up this badly.

But maybe he would have.

And what right did he have to judge anyway?

He didn't have that Sephiroth maniac on his case.

So Cloud wasn't this devil in disguise after all, maybe, but a truce didn't make them friends.

Because if Leon had been Cloud, he never would have let Tifa go in the first place.

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 161:** Ridiculous? Possibly. Over the top? Maybe. Entertaining to write? Oh yes. Title taken from the Def Leppard song…no affiliation!

**A/N 162:** The words 'Leon' and 'cuddle' in the same ditty just amuse me. So I pounced on it. Hope the fluffy didn't choke anybody.

I've decided to start wrapping up this collection in order to focus more on _As the Sun Sets on Mushroom Clouds_. So, if you have any more prompts you'd like to see, please submit them in a review for this chapter or a PM! Don't worry, I will answer all outstanding prompts that I have now, so there are several chapters left to post on this, but I'll be working on winding it down to an ending now.


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as is McCallister. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**164 – Bubble Bath Therapy**

_For Atramentous Love_

When Tifa came staggering and bumbling down the hall toward the locker room at the back of the headquarter building, Leon's first thought was that she was injured. By the time he had stood up to make sure she didn't fall down, he'd seen no blood or weird angles to suggest broken bones…So maybe she was drunk.

But it was 9:30 am and she was also soaking wet. It wasn't with water though, but he couldn't place what it smelled like at first. Either way, she looked too desperate to jump in the shower and get it off for it to be just water. She was so wrapped up in it that she didn't even acknowledge him as she stumbled into the locker room and proceeded to slide into the shower fully dressed.

He trailed after her just to the door and then stopped, turning his back to the scene and staring at the wall. Something was wrong, but she was too panic-stricken to form words. She almost looked scared, but the stuff she was soaked with hadn't been burning her or doing anything to her as far as he could tell.

The familiarity of the liquid's smell hit him then.

Gasoline.

Every nerve in his skin flared up. Why was Tifa soaked in gasoline? She was constantly around fire elemental Heartless and other breeds that could ignite that. That was probably why she was freaking out so badly: too many close calls on the way out of dodge.

She was moving around haphazardly and making distressed sounds, from what he could hear. One stray spark was all it would have taken to—He cleared his throat and folded his arms, looking up the hallway toward the break room. As far as he knew, they were the only ones in the building right now.

A strangled yelp reached him and he instinctively turned around. Tifa had nearly wiped out on the shower curtain in her haste to get the gasoline off. Her eyes were wide and she was doubled over, one hand holding her knee, which had apparently just knocked hard against the rim of the tub, and her other hand was on the wall, steadying her.

She had managed to tear off most of her clothes, leaving her standing under the head of the shower in just her underwear, and her skin was quickly turning red from the scalding water. At least, he assumed it was scalding, by the way the steam was already rising out of it.

"Shit, Tifa." He hissed, crossing the locker room hurriedly and turning off the water. She was going to boil her skin off at this rate.

She trembled and started to straighten, but nearly slipped again. "Fuel tank—"

"Okay," He grabbed her arms to keep her from falling over again. "It's okay, take a breath—" He waited for her to draw a deep breath, "—now let it out."

She deflated and slowly sank to sit on the edge of the tub. He kept a hand against her back to keep her steady. He could feel her trembling, and her skin looked painfully red…All of her skin…

Now that the adrenaline was passing, his brain started to process that she was practically naked. Swallowing compulsively, he forcefully averted his eyes and reached over, pushing the toggle on the faucet of the shower. He turned on the water again, and this time the warm water gushed out of the tub faucet. Leaving Tifa's side briefly, he set the plug on the drain and dumped in a good portion of that bubbly stuff that Aerith kept around for 'stress relief'.

If there was ever a reason for stress relief, it was having your entire body soaked in gasoline. As the water and bubbles began to fill the tub, he shifted back to where Tifa was. She had gotten her breathing under control and was now holding her arms about herself, as though realizing her…situation.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled under her breath, staring at the frothy bubbles.

He rubbed the back of his neck, "It's okay, just…Take a bath…It'll help you relax."

She smiled weakly. "Thanks."

Sure that she was steady now, he stood to leave and give her privacy. He had taken two steps before she stopped him.

"Stay?" When he looked back, she had already sunk into the tub, which was already halfway full of water and bubbles, effectively rendering only her shoulders and the tops of her knees visible. "I mean—you don't have to leave."

The gasoline mustn't have been too traumatizing, because now she looked almost playful…Wow…Aerith was right, those bubbles really had something to them.

"Er—Do you want me to stay?" He shifted awkwardly.

She looked thoughtful for a moment, and then smiled, "Maybe…Yes."

He paused and then returned to the side of the tub, sinking down to sit on the floor. Either out of affection or appreciation, she reached over and set a dollop of bubbles on his head. Yeah, she was all right…And if she was all right, then he was all right.

**..:-X-:..**

**165 – Friendly Fire**

_For Atramentous Love_

6:09 PM…What was that…twenty minutes? Longest twenty minutes of Leon's life.

Twenty minutes ago, they had rushed Aerith to the ER, since she had been hit by Allied friendly fire in the Bailey. He hadn't been on the scene, but he had seen them rush her in on a stretcher when he and Yuffie got back from the Great Maw…It hadn't been good.

Now it had been twenty minutes, Yuffie had been pacing a ring in the floor, Cid was smoking like a chimney outside, and Tifa was talking Cloud off the proverbial ledge. Leon couldn't take sitting around in that tense lobby, so he had gone for a walk inside the hospital. That was…less than uplifting, but now he had ended up here and it…wasn't so bad. It was quiet at least.

There were nearly a dozen newborns lined up in little carts on the other side of the glass of the nursery. Tiny squirming bundles wrapped in either blue or pink blankets, some crying, some sleeping, some just looking around with wide eyes. Seeing the world for the first time.

It was strangely therapeutic to see life in a hospital, he concluded. After ten years of war and Heartless, he had long come to associate hospitals with death, the hurt and the dying. He had forgotten that most people survived hospitals…some even entered the world in them.

"Which one is yours?"

Leon started slightly, turning to see a petite woman with curly red hair, dressed in standard hospital patient garb, looking at him from a few feet away. He paused and looked down the opposite hallway. Had she just asked—

"What?" He blurted, realizing she had been talking to HIM. "Oh, no—I'm not—"

This could go two ways, he realized. He could either tell the truth and be known as the creepy guy who loitered around the maternity ward. OR he could lie and be just a random guy that this new mother ran into. Option two seemed to end a lot better.

"—Not yet." He recovered, "I was just…"

"Playing the waiting game." The woman beamed. "I thought you looked anxious."

Um…okay, sure, he'd go with that.

"Er—yeah," Why had he come here? This wasn't better. "I guess you're—"

"The little Jones boy." She gestured, looking about to burst if he hadn't asked sooner. "Isn't he beautiful?"

He grunted something in the affirmative, looking for an escape route. All he had wanted was to get away from the crazy, worried people, and he had ended up in…crazy baby people land. He frowned and pulled out his phone, checking for any new texts from Cid or Tifa about the situation.

"Do you have any other kids?" The mother asked.

"No." He responded quickly…too quickly. "I mean—"

Dammit, this was why he didn't bother lying to people…he sucked at it.

"This is my fourth." She rattled on.

Fourth…good lord…He checked his mental filter. "Oh?"

"So this will be you and your wife's first child?" She was too wrapped up in her own happy-new-mom bubble to pick up on his awkward vibe.

"Er—"

"I'm sorry," She giggled, brushing her hair from her face, "It's just…babies are just so beautiful…I like to spread the joy."

Leon deadpanned at that. She was one of _those_. He couldn't carry a conversation with this woman. She was on a baby high and maybe still pain killers…Where was her husband anyway? He didn't want to talk about babies and parenthood.

He had never spared a thought for having kids…he barely spared thought toward getting married. There wasn't time for that. Every molecule of brain power he had was focused at all times on holding Radiant Garden together…Did he want kids?

Before he could A) figure out why THAT question popped up and B) answer it, his phone buzzed in his hand.

He jerked and swiftly answered it. Thank God. "What?"

"She's awake." Tifa's voice answered. "Where are you?"

"I'm on my way." He hung up and turned, then glanced back. "I have to—"

"Get going," The woman said, "And congratulations!"

Leon awkwardly backed away and then headed back toward the ER. Weirdest conversation of his life. He made a mental note to go for a walk somewhere else next time.

**..:-X-:..**

**166 – Russian Roulette**

_For Atramentous Love_

Cid peered through the crosshairs of the long range rifle. The scope honed in on the situation in the law firm across the street. He had set up in the third floor window in the hotel across the street from the firm. If Leon's little plan didn't end this hostage situation without bloodshed, then Cid was ready to plug the psycho perpetrator from here.

Hopefully that wouldn't be necessary, but if the crazy woman waving the gun around inside was any indication, things weren't going according to plan.

Half an hour ago, that psycho had walked in, pulled out a gun, and taken all 14 employees of the firm hostage. For what or why, Cid didn't know nor care at the moment. He only cared that there were 14 hostages, a psycho with a gun, and Leon in there.

"I should have gone in there." Tifa was pacing behind him.

Cid sighed and straightened, "That lady in there is unstable as it is. Leon going in was dangerous enough, but you—"

In the line of the scope, the woman lifted her gun at one of the hostages and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. No gunshot, no blood, no dropping bodies.

"Shit." He exhaled. "That's the third time she's done that."

"Done what? What's she doing?" Tifa crossed over to stand behind him.

"She's…She keeps aiming at the hostages and pulling the trigger, but nothing happens."

"Maybe she's—I don't know—psycho?" Tifa gestured.

Cid rolled his eyes, "She's toying with them. Russian Roulette, by the looks of it." He frowned, "And she's running out of empty chambers, if she's really packing at all."

"I don't care." Tifa snapped, "She's crazy, she has a gun, and she keeps pointing it at people. I don't like it. Just take her out."

"I can't." Cid argued, squinting down the scope and seeing only Leon's back, blocking his shot at the psycho with the gun. "I don't think Leon would appreciate that."

"Then let me go in there."

"She's running out of empty chambers," Cid tried to explain, "That means every empty shot gets her closer to the live round."

"I know how Russian Roulette works," She snapped, "How do—"

The psycho turned the gun on Leon this time, and something cold and heavy knotted through Cid's gut. He had a bad feeling about this—

"She's about to drop Leon." Cid brought his shoulder up to the rifle, gripping the trigger mechanism and waiting for the open shot, preparing to drop the psycho before she dropped Leon.

"What?" Tifa practically shrieked. "No way," He heard her stomp across, "That bitch better not even touch—"

The rest of her words were drowned out as she slammed the door after herself. If she was going in there, she had to go down four floors and across the street. That gave him at least two minutes to do something. Cid didn't remove his eyes from the crosshairs, trying to line the shot up without punching a hole through Leon's shoulder.

"Come on, bud, move it." He said under his breath.

Leon didn't move, and the woman with the gun took a step closer as he took a step back, like he was egging her on. Don't egg on the person with the gun and the psychotic break, he mentally berated him. Unless this was part of the plan…but what kind of plan involved…

Legs dropped from the ventilation in the ceiling.

"What the Hell—" The cigarette dropped out of his mouth.

Before he could register what he was seeing, the woman with the gun took that last step forward, coaxed by Leon, who had taken another step back. The legs dropped with the rest of the body, landing squarely on the woman's shoulders.

The woman staggered and the gun wavered, firing. The report of gunfire echoed across the street as the bullet went wide, shattering the glass window. The soldier who had dropped on top of her was holding onto the overhead railing of the ceiling. Private McCallister?

She jerked sideways, twisting her thighs around the woman's head violently. The woman's neck twisted sideways with what was surely an audible crack, and then she went abruptly slack, dropping to the floor out of sight.

McCallister dropped to the floor, landing on her boots and looking over to Leon. They exchanged brief words and promptly started herding the hostages out of the building.

THAT had been Leon's plan? Play mediator until his intern sneaks in and drops her like a hot coal? Cid relaxed his hand from the trigger and blinked. Tifa was running across the street.

"What is that boy TEACHING these soldiers?" He breathed, unsure whether to be impressed or shocked. "Damn…"

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 164: **I took a little creative license with the prompt here, but I think it worked all right.

**A/N 165:** Because Leon around babies is oddly amusing. He's such an awkward turtle.

Thanks for all the lovely prompts, guys. I will be finishing them over the next few weeks, but the prompt submission booth has now closed!


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as is Duke. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**167 – April Fools**

_For justagirl8225_

The solid white coffee mug had only four things on it. The word 'I' followed by a big red heart shape. Directly under it were the words 'my mutt'. The thing sat placidly on the kitchen counter, hot coffee steaming out of the top.

Leon looked at it over his knit fingers, and then over at Tifa, who was standing in the doorway grinning like an idiot. It took little brain power to figure out who was behind this. April Fools. At least she hadn't drawn all over him in purple marker like Yuffie last year.

And people wonder why he doesn't sleep well.

Tifa was still watching him…waiting for a reaction no doubt.

…Seriously…what the Hell?

He didn't move, standing in front of the steaming mug. He knew better than to look in the cabinets. She would have confiscated all the other coffee mugs, and she knew he needed his morning dose of caffeine in order to not kill any stupid interns at headquarters. She looked quite smug with herself.

Duke had started rising with the smell of coffee too, lately. The smell accompanied one of the two humans being conscious and therefore able to feed/pet/pay attention to her. So she lumbered out of Leon's room, tail swishing, and abruptly stopped when she stepped out into the hallway.

Maybe she thought the mug was ridiculous too.

Though, by the way her entire body aimed toward the couch, Leon doubted that was it.

He returned his gaze to Tifa, her devilish little grin still in place. Yeah, you keep grinning, woman. You'll get what's coming to you.

Meanwhile, the meeting was in fifteen minutes.

With a huff, he reached out, hooked one finger through the loop on the mug, and lifted it up. He swallowed his pride as he swallowed the coffee, all the while glaring over the top at Tifa. She looked like she was about to applaud…Maybe she had hid Cid or McCallister in here just to embarrass him.

A beat passed, and suddenly Tifa's smirk disappeared.

Yeah, let it sink in.

Duke hopped onto the couch, moving around on the furniture restlessly.

Leon kept his eyes on Tifa, holding the prank mug quite nonchalantly and watching the gears start to turn in her head…She was noticing how he had caved into the prank, a very un-Leonlike thing to do. He had drank willingly from a mug that said I 'heart' My Mutt…which was a very un-Leonlike thing to do. Now he was just standing there, still drinking from it, and watching her…which wasn't really un-Leonlike, but still not expected.

Duke hopped off the couch, shuffled back and forth across the front, and lay down in front of it before jumping up onto it again three seconds later.

Tifa gave him a suspicious look and picked up her keys, walking over to the door. Leon finished his coffee, calm as you please, set the mug on the counter, and picked up the gunblade, following her to the door, wordless.

They were both halfway out the door when Duke keened and started pawing at the couch. Tifa eyed the dog with a lifted eyebrow, looked at Leon, and then stepped out. Leon smirked, closed the door, and locked it.

A beat passed as they stood out in the hallway.

"All right, all right." Tifa exhaled in defeat, "Just get it over with."

Leon walked past her, "I have no idea what you mean."

"It's April Fools. I just 'Fool'ed you, and you've got something cooking up here," She poked herself in the temple. "So just lay it on me. I know you want to."

"I already did."

"What?"

"You'll see."

"…Leon…" She jogged after him.

He looked at her, and then decided to put her out of her misery. "We're almost late for the meeting." He noted as they walked down the stairs and out into the street.

"Yeah…"

"And I hid a raw steak in your couch." He tilted his head as horror took over her face. "Duke should have shredded that whole thing to get to it by the time we get home." While she glared daggers at him, he shrugged, "It'll probably be an improvement."

**..:-X-:..**

**168 – Ashes to Ashes**

_For Atramentous Love_

The building was on the verge of collapse, Tifa could hear the structure popping and breaking under the crippling fire that had engulfed the entire thing. She could also still hear people screaming, trapped inside. Two, maybe three, but it tore her up inside, because there was nothing they could do. It was almost—

The middle level of the building started to buckle. In the same second, Leon took one off balanced step toward the structure, to go back inside for the civilians, even as it started to implode.

"No!" Tifa threw herself at his back, grabbing him around the middle and holding him in place. "Leon, stop."

"They're still in there—" He grunted, trying to wriggle out of her grip.

"It's too late—"

"Let go—"

The rest of the building bowed inward at the middle. The flames had eaten away at the interior structure and caused it to implode completely on itself. The building disappeared in a whoosh of hot air, blackened wood, and red hot flames.

Leon stopped struggling, but Tifa kept her arms around him, her face pressed against his back, between his shoulder blades. She pinched her eyes closed as she felt him list slightly away. They both sank wordlessly to the ground. She could smell smoke and burning wood.

The screams had gone silent.

In their place, however, the sounds of people rushing to and fro to put out the residual flames and evacuate the surrounding area filled in.

Nothing could have been done, she told herself inwardly. She and Leon had both already gone in and brought people out three times separately. The last run, she hadn't found anyone and had stayed outside the inferno to help tend to the wounded. Leon had gone back in, found nothing, and been forced to come out because of the smoke.

If he had gone back in right then, if she hadn't grabbed him—he would have been killed. Tifa turned her face so that just her right side was pressed against his back, arms still locked in place, and opened her eyes. She could hear him breathing raggedly against her.

Ash was drifting through the air, settling on the ground and every other surface surrounding the epicenter of the fire. She saw Aerith, darting back and forth, handing out potions to the victims. The woman made her way over to them and wordlessly cast two healing spells over their heads. Tifa hadn't looked at herself, but she figured she looked bad if Aerith thought she and Leon both needed the spells.

The healing effects made her insides light and warm and she exhaled, breathing a little easier now. By the slackening of Leon's chest under her arms, he was feeling the effects too. She let her arms loosen around him, breathing carefully and trying not to inhale the ash.

"Dammit." Leon pushed himself back up on his feet.

Tifa remained where she was, looking ahead now where the building had been just a minute earlier, now just a skeletal mess of jagged wood, heated steel beams, and dying fire. No one could have survived that collapse…or if they had…she doubted anyone would get to them in time. She swallowed the lump that rose in her throat.

Leon turned with a growl that she couldn't interpret, and started to walk in the other direction. Tifa climbed to her feet, looking after him.

"Leon…" She started.

He didn't acknowledge her and she hesitated. Normally, when things went downhill like this, he would go off by himself, and she would let him. He had left her alone when she wanted to be alone, the least she could do was return the favor. But this time…This time he didn't look right. This time had hit him hard.

There was nothing he could have done, but he wouldn't see it that way. Leon hated feeling useless. Tifa hurried after him, determined not to let him slip into the brooding mood that he usually did. She caught up to him, ashes drifting off her hair and shoulders.

"Leon, wait—" She had nothing to say beyond that. Just calling out to him.

Words of comfort or reassurance would have sounded hollow at this point, and probably would have pushed him away. In all the time Tifa had known him, she had known Leon not to be one to take solace from other people. So instead of saying anything, she caught up to him, moved in front of him, and abruptly embraced him. Her own fears and feelings of uselessness crashed over her, but she took a little comfort when she felt his arms haltingly reciprocate the embrace.

The only way Leon could be comforted was to think he was the one giving comfort.

**..:-X-:..**

**169 – Any and Every Excuse**

_For justagirl8225_

"You might be more comfortable if you lay down." Aerith offered, pouring water in to fill the rest of the bag of ice.

Tifa grimaced, sitting hunched on the edge of the couch, one arm cradled around her ribs, where a bruise every shade of blue and purple was blossoming. The idea of lying on Merlin's couch like some wounded animal while the rest of the Restoration Committee walked in and out all day made her nauseas.

"Just give me a potion and I'll be fine." She grumbled.

Aerith handed her the ice pack. "That bruise will earn you a day off. You should take it, get some rest—"

"Aerith," Tifa groaned in exasperation, taking the pack. "I don't need a day off. I just need this bruise to go away so that I can get back out there."

"You sound like Cloud." Aerith tutted.

"Bite your tongue!" Tifa snapped, but she was too tired to really mean it.

She eased the ice bag against the sore, swollen spot on her ribs and hissed at the cold. She shifted the grip around on it so that she could pull her shirt back down over it and hold it from the other side. There was no need for her hands to get frostbite because one Dancer Nobody got a lucky shot.

Aerith sighed, "Get some rest—"

"You aren't serious."

"—and we'll see how you feel after the swelling goes down."

Tifa inhaled and then gagged slightly when breathing aggravated her ribs. "I don't want to lie around and wait. Just sitting here is making me crazy."

"What's making you crazy?" Yuffie chirped as she walked in with Leon, both looking like they'd gone ten rounds with the fire elemental Heartless that lurked around Ansem's Study.

"Aerith won't heal my wounds." Tifa said dramatically. "I think she has an agenda."

"Now that's not nice." Leon said flatly, eying Tifa. "What's—"

Tifa kept a lax expression and lifted her shirt enough to show off the bruise. He tilted his head at it, looking bewildered and slightly impressed. Yuffie was less subtle.

"Holy crap! You're lucky to be ALIVE!" The girl gawked.

Tifa grunted, lowering her shirt again and shifting uncomfortably.

Aerith rolled her eyes, "Just lie down and take the pressure off of your ribs."

"How lazy is that?" Tifa snapped, feeling irritable now. "I'm fine."

Leon sighed, sinking onto the couch next to her and looking at her flatly. "Don't be stubborn."

Tifa balked. "You want to talk about stubborn? YOU—the guy who used paper towels and duct tape to avoid going to the hospital when your thumb was almost sliced off?"

"You're being dramatic." He leaned back slightly. "Come here."

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Why?"

"Because I said so." He quipped back at her.

Aerith instructed Yuffie to go see if Cid needed help at the Bailey, to which the younger woman huffed and sauntered out, saying something about old men and cranky attitudes. Tifa was too exhausted to argue with Leon, and conceded, leaning back against him. No sooner had she done this than he scooted back, taking her with him, so that they were both effectively lying on the couch…Well, he was lying on the couch, and she was practically lying on him.

It wasn't the most comfortable position in the world, but Tifa was NOT going to get up first. She grinned, adjusting the ice bag against her ribs and leaning into his chest. All this before Aerith turned around from ordering Yuffie off. The flower girl looked mildly surprised at Don't-Touch-Me Leon and Bad-Mood Tifa in effect cuddling on the couch.

"What's all this?" She said, wry grin touching her lips.

"You said lay down." Tifa shrugged, her insides going light at his proximity.

Aerith snorted and looked to Leon. "And your excuse?"

Leon made an offended noise, "I got a very bad papercut today."

"That's not good." Tifa said in mock concern, taking one of his hands, "Let me take a look at that….oh yes, I see it…you should definitely take the rest of the day off. In fact, I wouldn't get up off this couch if I were you." She flashed Aerith a smug grin.

Aerith sighed and walked out of the room, "You two are impossible."

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 167:** Leon still thinks he'll win the Couch War…silly man.


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as is Duke. I also don't own the song "We R Who We R" by Kesha…You'll see why that's relevant later…Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**170 – The Elephant in the Room**

_For The Sacred and Profane_

Leon and Duke were both against one wall, watching the display with their heads tilted in the same direction. Leon had his arms crossed and looked torn between laughing and swearing. Duke's ears were as high as they could go, curious about this oddity.

"Shouldn't it have…reversed by now?" He finally asked.

Merlin sighed, tapping his chin as he walked around the sight. "For all intents and purposes, she should have gone back to normal after leaving the atmosphere."

"Well…obviously she didn't." Leon's voice kicked up a notch at the end and he cleared his throat to quench the laugh that had been trying to escape since they left Pride Rock. "Can you fix her?"

Merlin tutted, "Can Dumbo fly without a feather?"

Tifa made an indignant noise and Merlin grimaced. "No offense, dear." He apologized.

Leon looked shamelessly unapologetic, studying her from his spot against the wall. Why did she look so pissed at him? It wasn't his fault the adaptation spell had…lingered. The longest the effects of this spell had lasted before was Donald…but he was already a duck, so there was no way to know how long this would last.

Most humans who took missions in Pride Lands succumbed to the adaptation spell that morphed them into a more native form: lions. Well, lions or antelope, there was the occasional tropical bird…but this…

Duke barked and he reached down, scratching behind her ear to quiet her. The dog keened and looked up at him. Her tail swished once and her bewildered brown eyes went back to Tifa, ears lifted.

Merlin paced around the animal that the adaptation spell had morphed Tifa into. "How are you feeling, Leon?"

He blinked, "I'm not the one with the…" He gave an absent gesture at Tifa, "…issue here."

"Just because you LOOK back to normal doesn't mean something didn't morph correctly." Merlin frowned. "I'll check you over once I fix Tifa."

Tifa hung her head and Leon straightened, walking over to her. All jokes and teasing aside, he did feel some form of sympathy for her. If their situations were reversed, she would get her giggles at his expense and then cut it out. So he cut it out.

"How long will it take?" He asked, looking to Merlin.

The tottery old sorcerer finished walking around Tifa and hopped over to his cauldron, where he immediately started mixing different potions and ingredients. "Give me one hour and I'll have an antidote whipped up."

"There, see?" Leon looked from Merlin up at Tifa, whose eye level was currently several feet higher than his. "One hour and you're back to normal."

She stomped one massive foot at him, letting him know she wasn't amused, and remained sitting on the floor. Leon had made sure the others were distracted for the afternoon. Tifa wouldn't want anyone walking in on her like this. She was barely tolerating HIM being there to see her in her current state. The size and the ears, he thought the others could handle…but the trunk…Yuffie would never have let her live it down.

Within the hour, Merlin had conjured up a spell that sounded like swearing in a foreign language and made yellow sparks shoot out of his wand. At the wizard's instruction, Leon stepped away from Tifa's bulk and returned to stand by Duke, who had decided that watching this from the lying down position would be best.

"As a good friend of mine would say," Merlin chirped, "Bippity boppity boo!"

Three bright flickers of light later, the animal in the middle of the floor had been replaced by Tifa, on her knees, slumped forward on her hands, her hair hanging in a black curtain around her face. She had her eyes pinched closed and her shoulders hunched, as though afraid to see what she had turned into this time. It was sort of adorable, actually.

Leon snorted and walked over to her, kneeling down and grasping her shoulder. "Welcome back." He gave her a small shake.

Tifa opened her eyes and stared at the floor for a long moment before lifting her gaze to him. Duke barked and Merlin herded the dog away from licking Tifa's face silly.

"Don't," Tifa lifted a threatening finger just in front of Leon's face, "you say a word about this." She said, shakily getting to her feet and dusting herself off.

Leon shook his head, "I promise…But…" He looked at her slyly, "An elephant never forgets."

And then Tifa had grabbed up Merlin's wand and commenced shooting every conceivable spell at Leon that she could think up, and he was ducking behind furniture.

**..:-X-:..**

**171 – Exclusive**

_For justagirl8225_

"I saw that." Tifa called him out from her spot leaning over the table.

Leon didn't dignify her remark with a response and just continued to type on the computer. She straightened and put her hands on her hips.

"Leon…" She said warningly.

"Tifa…" He mimicked in reply, and grimaced in doing so.

"If it's still hurting you, then go back to the dentist." She said, as though one would to a stubborn child.

"Root canal was bad enough." He grunted, and then frowned, "I'm fine."

"Fine." She sauntered over to him, "Just let me poke your jaw and I'll leave you alone."

He looked genuinely afraid for a wild second, but then deadpanned and turned away from her. "Don't you have patrol duty to get to?"

"I knew it." Tifa smacked his shoulder.

He shook her off, "Lemme alone."

She sombered, "It won't go away if you just ignore it."

"I'm not ignoring it." He grumbled.

She reached over and plucked up the half empty bottle of pain medication and held it in front of him. "Root canals don't need these." She jiggled the bottle.

He swatted her away. "Seriously—"

Tifa huffed and reached a hand out, grasping the side of his jaw opposite where he had had a root canal two weeks earlier. He instinctively stiffened but didn't shake her off this time.

"The worst they'll do is pull the tooth." She said, "Gurgling healing items won't fix it." She straightened, "Besides, if you're the one watching my back, I don't want you distracted by a lousy tooth ache."

"…hate the dentist…" He mumbled.

"As does every child under the age of 12." She tutted. "You'll face down Heartless and run into the heart of Radiant Garden itself, but when one little tooth might get pulled, you'd think someone was trying to take away your firstborn son."

Leon looked sourly at her and she softened, sitting on the desk in front of him. She propped one leg on the arm rest of his chair and tilted her head.

"There might be something in it for you if you do it." She smirked.

He deadpanned, "You're flirting in order to make me go to the dentist?"

"I'm flirting," She corrected, "in order to make you stop being a stubborn ass."

He lifted an eyebrow, "Your flirting needs work."

She chuckled, leaning in, "So does your tooth." She kissed him briefly on the lips.

He returned the kiss, but grimaced halfway through it. She sighed and sat up.

"I don't like kissing men who are in pain." She huffed.

He snorted at that and gingerly rubbed his jaw. "Then go kiss somebody else." He said irritably.

She snorted and sat back on her hands, looking at him coyly. "What if I don't want to kiss anybody else?"

It was a very forward thing to say, but she found herself not regretting it. Leon looked at her, his hand still on his jaw. He would cave, she knew he would. No hatred of dentists ever trumped the desire to kiss a woman…Thus, if he liked kissing her, then he would cave and go to the dentist.

There, she had presented the question without directly asking it. To pull the tooth or not to pull the tooth, that was the question here.

"Then you're—" He groaned as the nerves in his jaw flared up. "Damn." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. "Fine, you win."

As he dialed the dentist's office, Tifa offered a shit-eating grin and stood off the desk. He rambled off a sour conversation with the phone, setting up an appointment that afternoon, and then promptly hung up and looked at her. "Not anybody else, huh?"

She offered an innocent shrug and looked at the computer screen. "I'm not currently kissing anybody else, if that's what you're asking."

He paused a beat, rubbed his jaw, and grunted, "Me neither."

**..:-X-:..**

**172 – Like No One's Watching**

_For justagirl8225_

Several rounds of tequila shots and half an hour of intense fast dancing had worn her down, so when Yuffie tugged Tifa toward the karaoke stage, Tifa wasn't in the state of mind to say no and just went with the younger woman up to the microphones.

Maybe they were all sort of buzzed, Aerith concluded, noting how Cid was laughing like a bear at the bar, overtly and shamelessly flirting with the curvaceous, middle aged bartender, who had a noticeable gap between her top front teeth.

Aerith had been elected as designated driver, but she wasn't much of a drinker, so she hadn't fought them on it. Now Tifa was hammered, Yuffie had managed to get her hands on a few bottles, Cid could barely sit on the stool at the bar, and Leon was sitting beside Aerith, looking far too relaxed and amused to be sober.

She was quickly realizing that in order to tolerate the drunk people around you, you have to be a little buzzed yourself. This was why Aerith had called Cloud to come get them and promptly indulged in a few drinks herself.

The song blasting over the speakers had to have been picked by Yuffie. Aerith had never known Tifa to listen to this kind of music. It was too…manic. Then again, Tifa practically snatched the microphone away from Yuffie and started belting out the lyrics, so maybe Aerith didn't know Tifa as well as she thought.

"_I've got that glitter on my eyes_…" She was singing, "_Stockings ripped all up the side_."

"_Looking sick and sexy-fied!"_ Yuffie took the mic back, "_So let's go-oh-oh_!"

The guy working the karaoke line up—baked like an apple pie already—was bouncing with the beat and knocking the strobe lights around so that the colors dancing through the bodies in the bar could have invoked seizures. Aerith blinked repeatedly and sipped at her martini, looking at Leon. He was enjoying this too much.

She snorted and shook her head.

"_Tonight we're going ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-hard_!" Tifa and Yuffie sang together, dancing around on the karaoke stage. "_Just like the world is ou-ou-ou-ou-ou-ours_."

Yuffie climbed over onto the bar, like she worked for Coyote Ugly, and dancing the part.

"_We're tearing it apar-par-par-par-par-part_." Their voices were drunk and dissonant, but Aerith found herself laughing at the sight as Tifa tossed her hair and started waving her arms in the air, getting the rest of the drunk crowd into it.

"_You know we're superstars…We are who we are!"_ Yuffie chimed in.

By then, Tifa had reached Aerith and Leon, still dancing in that Exotic Background Dancer Number Four kind of way, and Aerith could tell from the look in her eyes that Tifa was absolutely gone at this point. Also at this point, Aerith was buzzed enough to not be alarmed that Leon was pretty gone as well.

So when Tifa promptly sat herself in Leon's lap—still dancing, mind you—and proceeded to give him a lapdance, Aerith just snorted into her martini and giggled.

"_We're_ _dancin' like we're du-du-du-du-du-dumb_." She couldn't tell if the words were coming from Tifa or Yuffie or the rest of the drunks who'd gotten enthused, but the base was thundering through the floor.

"_Our_ _bodies go nu-nu-nu-nu-nu-numb_."

Well, now Tifa couldn't be singing, because Leon had covered her mouth with his and the way Tifa had pressed her chest up all against him, there was no way she could get enough air to—wait...

For a wild second, Aerith just gawked as Leon's hands ran up Tifa's back and in her hair and Tifa leaned into the kiss…Oh, there was tongue—Aerith clamored out of her seat, forcing her eyes over to Yuffie, who had gotten a hold of two drum sticks and was beating a rhythm on the counter of the bar, still singing. Aerith glanced back at Leon and Tifa and then immediately looked away. She could never UN-see that!

Was no one else seeing this?

Aerith set her drink down and shook her head. That was enough from Mr. Alcohol tonight, she figured, looking over to the entrance to the bar. There, sober as a brick, stood Cloud, looking at the crowd in the bar with a mixed expression of bewilderment, confusion, and downright 'WTF'.

She waved to get his attention and when he spotted her, his gaze slowly slid to her right to the…massive PDA offense taking place behind her. Aerith followed his eyes to see the two making out and then turned her slurring vision back to Cloud.

Aerith lifted her hands into the air in a 'whatcha gonna do?' motion and sauntered over to him. Wow, the floor was moving. She staggered to remain upright…and not jump on Cloud too.

This was why she was supposed to be DD.

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 171:** Because it's cute…and I think they need to start moving toward couple-dom.

**A/N 172:** This song has been stuck in my head for days! This prompt was just the perfect outlet to get it out and do something fun with it. I hope it was as entertaining to read as it was to write…Alcohol-lowered inhibitions are always amusing.


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are McCallister and Jake Alms. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**173 –Tale as Old as Time**

_For Lett_

"You're getting better."

"You sound surprised."

"You've been practicing?"

"With Aerith sometimes."

"I bet that's a sight."

Tifa shrugged, "She's the only other person who knows how to dance like this."

Leon tilted his head, "I could have practiced with you."

"Why do you think I was practicing?" She smiled, "I wanted to surprise you."

The massive golden chandelier was the only source of light in the ballroom of Enchanted Castle. Belle had promised a ball and a ball had been delivered. The entire population of the small town nearby had shown, as well as most of Radiant Garden, whom Belle had invited on principle, for being so hospitable during the war and her stay there.

Most of them were waltzing around the floor, but neither of the two was paying attention to what anyone else was doing. Unlike the last time Tifa dragged Leon to an event like this, she didn't care who was looking at her, and unlike last time, Leon was actually enjoying himself.

"I'm surprised." He conceded.

She smiled through a coy look as she moved her arm from his shoulder but kept her hold on his hand, spinning away from him. Her dark purple gown swished around her ankles as she did so, and she spun back into him, impressed with herself for actually pulling off the move.

He smirked and replaced his hand at her waist, quietly keeping them in tune with the other dancing couples. Huh…'other' couples.

"I never would have taken you for the dancing type." Tifa said.

Leon shrugged as the music carried on, "I'm an enigma."

They had both concluded that just dancing was slightly awkward, so between them, they had kept up a dialogue while the other dancing couples ogled and had eye-sex with each other. While Tifa had allowed Belle to dress her up like a doll, Leon had been let off the hook with just a more formal-looking uniform. He looked quite dashing, to be honest. Tifa laughed at his words and they danced a little closer.

"All right, Mr. Mysterious, whatever you say."

She was still laughing when Leon stopped his steps. While her momentum was still moving her sideways, he turned his upper body, keeping a firm hold around her back as he lowered her into a deep dip. Her laugh trailed off into a helpless little giggle as she held onto him.

If anybody tried to cut in right then, Tifa would have kicked the person's leg out.

As it was, a few chuckles were heard at the display and Yuffie whistled while Tifa distinctly heard Aerith say something about 'chemistry' and 'about time'.

Leon straightened, pulling her up with him, and Tifa couldn't stop the blood from rushing to her head.

"I think people are watching us." Tifa said, lightheaded, "And Beast just transformed back to human, so you'd think all eyes would be on him and Belle. This is their ball after all, and I don't think we're that interesting to look at—"

Leon interrupted her with a kiss, effectively stopping their dancing twice in the last two minutes. Tifa didn't mind and closed her eyes into the kiss. The dance went on without them for a few seconds, or maybe it didn't. Neither of them was paying much attention.

Eventually, though, oxygen ran out and the kiss ended. Tifa fought the dizziness and caught Leon snickering at her.

"Whoo—now people are definitely looking at us." She recovered.

He didn't look around, his eyes staying on hers. "Let them look."

Tifa tilted her head, taken slightly aback, "Well, well, you are quite the onion." She smiled as Leon took her hand back and they resumed dancing, "I'll just have to keep peeling back those layers, won't I?"

"I guess so." He replied as they slid back into the dance.

After that, conversation faded away and they finished the dance in silence, but neither of them missed the dialogue. Whatever needed to be said was already crystal clear to them.

Maybe it wasn't so awkward after all.

**..:-X-:..**

**174 – Tickle Monster**

_For The Sacred and Profane_

Leon leaned away, "Stop it."

"I've almost got it." Tifa didn't let up.

"I can do it myself—"

"If you can't SEE, then you can't very well get it out of your eye by yourself, can you?" She huffed, "Now sit still so I can—"

Leon turned his face away like a child and Tifa made an exasperated noise, stepping behind where he was sitting. She grabbed his shoulder and forced him to sit back, leaning his head back until he was looking up at her.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but either way, you're not leaving here with that stuff in your eye." She said firmly.

He looked on the verge of arguing, but before he could retort, the door swung open and Yuffie strolled in. Both Leon and Tifa looked over and Yuffie put her hands on her hips, seeing Leon leaned back, Tifa standing behind him and bent over his face. For a second, nobody moved.

Then the younger woman rolled her eyes, "I don't even bother to ask anymore…"

She turned and left, apparently not finding who she was looking for.

After that little distraction, Tifa went back to looking at Leon. "So what'll it be?"

Leon would have glared up at her, but the fragments of whatever that had gotten in his eye had rendered the entire eye red and irritated, negating any glare he could have mustered up. He didn't dignify her with a response, and instead just stopped struggling against her.

Looking appeased, Tifa lit one palm over his scar to hold his eyelid open while she used the other hand to man the out of focus thing she had picked out to use on his eye. Leon swallowed and tried not to look at it.

Her fingers slipped across his nose and he jerked before he realized he'd done it.

"Leon, for the love of—" Tifa sighed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"I could take your eye out. Now hold still."

He grumbled but tried to sit still. She resumed trying to get the irritants out of his eye. Her hand ghosted over his scar again and his skin tingled. Before he could stop it, he'd spazzed again, turning out of her touch.

"What?" She smacked the side of his head lightly.

"I didn't mean to—" He sat up, "I'll get it myself."

"Wait—"

He picked up the mirror from the table and tried to inspect the damage to his eye for himself, but the vision in his right eye was too blurred to trust. Tifa moved around the chair and looked at him sideways.

"Are you—" She paused and reached out, poking his forehead.

He flinched involuntarily and swatted her away. "Stop it."

"You're…you're ticklish?...Seriously?" She tilted her head, poking him again.

Again he jerked and waved her hand away, "Cut it out."

"You ARE!" She said devilishly, "Wonder what would happen if I—"

She moved to poke him again, but enough was enough. Leon grabbed her arm and abruptly pulled her to him. She yelped in surprise and landed on his chest. The attack was too much for the chair, which buckled backwards, sending them both to the floor.

"Lemme go!" She struggled, but he had a hold of her now.

"See how you like it—" He grumbled and commenced tickling her.

Tifa cried out through a laugh and tried to roll away. In her wriggling, her knee crashed into his ribs, effectively throwing him off. With a grunt, he ended up on his back on the floor, but still keeping a hold of her.

"Oh yeah?" She reached for his face again, but his hands found her sides too quickly and she spazzed, laughing again. "Stop it! Leon—"

"Ahem." A new voice added to the commotion.

They both stopped again, this time with Tifa on top of Leon and his hands around her ribs. Cid stood in the doorway, deadpan and slightly annoyed.

"This isn't what it looks—" Leon started.

"Don't care." Cid lifted a hand, crossing the room to the computer, "Just use a hotel room next time…and protection."

**..:-X-:..**

**175 – That's What She Said**

_For justagirl8225_

The wooden splinter was the length of a toothpick, and only slightly less thick. It had wedged itself against the ball of Tifa's thumb, and bleeding just enough to look nasty. McCallister tried to keep her eyes off of it while Tifa sat cross legged on the couch in the break room, her splintered, bleeding hand palm up while Leon inspected it.

"Looks like it hurts." He said after a beat.

Tifa rolled her eyes, "Thanks, Dr. House, what ever would I do without your deep, insightful diagnosis?"

Leon looked flatly at her and then over to the soldier, "McCallister, bring in some gauze and antiseptic."

"Yes, sir." She closed the break room door after herself as she went to the storage area to fetch the items.

Considering that Tifa had fallen through a collapsing tree in Deep Jungle, Tabaeus figured a toothpick-sized splinter was a pretty good way for that to end.

Didn't make it look any less painful though.

By the time she returned to the door, Jake Alms had taken up station by the break room, ear toward the door, idiotic grin on his face.

"Jake, what're you—" She said, exasperated after just three seconds in his presence.

"Shh!" Jake lifted a finger to his lips. "Leon and Tifa are in there—"

"I know that, stupid." McCallister lifted up the supplies in her hand, "Major General Leonhart sent me to get these so he could—"

"Hold still." Leon was saying.

Jake shushed Tabaeus again and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Tifa snapped, "I'm having a little trouble sitting still with you about to—ow!"

"I didn't even touch you."

"Yes you did."

Jake sniggered, wiggling his eyebrows at Tabaeus, who slapped herself in the forehead.

"Jake, she has a—"

"Psst, psst!" He hushed her. "It's just getting good."

"Do you have to squeeze so hard?" Tifa was grumbling.

"If you'd hold still, I wouldn't have to." Leon mumbled back. "Where is McCallister?"

"I don't want an audience for this!"

Tabaeus moved to the door but Jake stopped her.

"You're a child," Tabaeus hissed, "She has a splinter and I'm—"

"Mother of God, Leon!" Tifa yelled suddenly.

Jake nearly hit the floor with the giggles that hit him then. Tabaeus rolled her eyes and shoved him aside, turning the knob on the door.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Leon said, holding up the bloody splinter as Tabaeus walked in, gauze and antiseptic in hand.

Tifa gawked at how far the blood reached on the toothpick-sized thing. She took it in her other hand while Leon set about cleaning the open wound on her hand.

"I've never had one that big in me." She muttered, looking nauseated at the thought.

Jake hollered with laughter at that this time and both Leon and Tifa looked over, startled but not surprised at finding him there. He was on his knees, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.

"That's what she said!" He howled.

Tifa and Leon exchanged flat looks. Tabaeus walked over and put a boot in Jake's chest, shoving him out into the hall and slamming the door closed after him.

Without commenting on the interruption, Tifa pressed the gauze over her hand again to stop the bleeding, and Leon dampened some of the cloth with antiseptic. Only Tabaeus seemed disgruntled at Jake's little cameo.

"How does he get IN here?" She stomped out of the other door out of the break room.

Tifa snorted and tossed the splinter in the trash can. Leon just rolled his eyes.

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 174: **A little more fluff than I usually write, but I think it works.

**A/N 175:** Inspired by a similar scene from the movie "Look Who's Talking." Although, while I was writing this, Jake started to remind me of The Todd from Scrubs…I dunno.

Even though I'm not taking prompts anymore, there are still about eight chapters of ditties left for me to post, so I'll be updating still for a while. I'm also starting to try to narrow down the genre for the finale chapter. Let me know if you have a genre you're itching to see!


	28. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are McCallister and Duke. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**176 – Are We There Yet?**

_For AThousandSuns_

"Why is it so quiet?"

"Dude, get off me."

"Can we turn up the AC? It's boiling back here!"

"How much farther it is?"

"Ugh, Cooper, was that you? Argh, what did you have for lunch today?"

"Shut up, Marcus!"

"The heat…I'm…dying…"

"Why can't the Nobodies hide on the beach?"

The incessant, annoying rambling had gone on since the bus had pulled out of the Gummi hangar from the World That Never Was. All five of Leon's recruits and Tifa's five recruits had been complaining or rambling about one thing or another since the driver had started the engine.

Leon and Tifa had taken the two front seats, putting a safety cushion between themselves and the recruits. Unfortunately, this left Private McCallister to sit closer to the newbies. The four hour long drive through the deserted city was taking far too long, and the soldier was losing her tolerance for their…annoying-ness.

She finally spun around and glared down the aisle. "It's quiet because it's a 'deserted city'. There are a dozen other seats, if he's bothering you that much, then MOVE. There is no air conditioning on this bus, so just…deal with it. Cooper…whatever you ate today, don't eat it again…and Marcus…don't be juvenile."

The ten of them blinked at her for a moment.

"Geez, McCallister—"

"It's SOMEBODY's time of the month—"

"No air conditioning?"

She groaned and turned back around to find Leon eying her in amusement, a bag of peanuts in his hand. She flushed slightly with embarrassment at her behavior, but lifted a hand.

"I'm sorry, but they're being obnoxious." She said. "How you and Brigadier General Lockhart put up with them is beyond—"

He tilted his head, reached up, and tugged an ear plug out of his ear. "What?"

The private blinked, snorted, and shook her head. "Never mind, sir."

She leaned sideways and looked at Tifa, who had taken a whole seat to herself, back against the window, legs stretched out, head tilted back, mouth open, asleep. How she managed to sleep through those annoying recruits' yammering, the soldier couldn't fathom.

Something flew across the aisle and McCallister started slightly, looking back at Leon.

"Sir, did you just see—"

Leon picked up another peanut and nonchalantly flicked it at Tifa. McCallister balked as the nut flew over and bounced off the woman's shoulder, landing in her lap. She didn't move at all. Soldiers tended to be very light sleepers—McCallister had knocked over a book once when Leon was taking a nap in his office and had nearly experienced Death by Laptop—but there were several peanuts littering the seat and her lap, so Tifa must have been a pretty hard sleeper.

While McCallister processed this, Leon picked up another peanut and proceeded to flick it at Tifa again. This one thudded against her neck and slipped down her shirt in her cleavage. Tifa grunted but didn't move.

"Sir…What are you doing?" She lifted an eyebrow at him.

Leon flicked two more peanuts—one of which landed on Tifa's collar and the other of which bounced off her jaw—before answering. "It's a four hour drive. It's either this or listen to those guys bicker."

McCallister watched him toss another peanut at Tifa in utter bewilderment before a grin spread across her lips. "And when she wakes up and finds her shirt full of peanuts?"

"I'm blaming you." He shrugged and flicked one more peanut.

This one sailed across the aisle and promptly landed in Tifa's mouth, like a hockey puck in a goal net. Leon did a small fist pump of victory…then cleared his throat and looked to McCallister again just as Tifa started to stir.

"Whatever you say, sir." She sighed, sitting back in her seat.

Tifa opened her eyes, frowned, and looked down at herself. "What the Hell…"

**..:-X-:..**

**177 – Yours, Mine, Ours**

_For justagirl8225_

"Keep them closed." Leon's hands were on her shoulders, guiding her.

"What is this all about?" Tifa said, keeping her eyes closed as they walked.

It felt like they had been walking for twenty minutes now, and Leon still wouldn't let her open her eyes. It smelled like the new Residential District, by the aroma of freshly cut wood and concrete. She could even hear the hammers working a few blocks away…So maybe they were near the first completed buildings.

That's what this big surprise was? She had seen the Residential District hundreds of times. She didn't understand what was so special about—

"Watch your step." He instructed. "No peeking."

She took a careful step forward and found a stair step. Ascending it slowly, she let Leon steer her through a shadow before she distinctly felt them leave the outside for the inside. The inside of what, she couldn't quite figure, but it smelled like paint.

"What're you—"

"Okay," His hands left her shoulders, "You can look now."

Tentatively at first, Tifa opened her eyes. The dim light of the room made her blink a few times. As her vision adjusted, she looked around.

"It's…an empty room." She said noting the wood floor, soft red walls, and lack of any evidence that someone lived here.

"Uh huh." He said, coaxing her on.

She stepped out into the middle of the room, leaning sideways to look down the hallway. The walls were unblemished by nails or other fixtures. A completely clean slate.

"It's an empty room…in an empty house." She commented, clasping her hands behind her back as she walked into a potential living room.

Quick recon through a naked window told her that it was close to the entrance to the new district. So this WAS one of the first homes completed in the new residential zone.

"Getting warmer." He said.

Tifa made her way around the room and then stepped into two more rooms before ending up in a modest kitchen. There were basic appliances, a fridge, an oven, and an island counter in the middle.

"An empty room, in an empty house, in the new residential district." She said, looking back.

Leon was leaning against the entryway of the kitchen, hands in his pockets. "Bidding started last week."

"I don't remember hearing that." Tifa grinned. "Is it the first house up for bids?"

"Yes."

"Is it still up for bids?"

Leon checked his watch, "For five more minutes."

"Wow." Tifa ran her hands across the smooth countertop. "This is…this is huge." She looked at him again, beaming. "I know you've really put a lot of time and effort into this." He gave an awkward little shrug—the guy never could take a compliment. "I'm proud of you."

While he awkwardly dealt with that, she explored the rest of the uniform, two story house. Bedrooms, bathrooms, study rooms and a living room. It was small enough to be a starter house, but big enough to not be a matchbox.

"Bidding just ended." Leon said, reading a text on his phone.

"The lucky winner nabbed a good house." Tifa said, hands on her hips.

"So it gets the Tifa Nod of Approval?" He prompted, watching her walk around the empty living room.

"Oh yes." She nodded, "This beats a cramped apartment any day."

"Good, I was hoping you'd say that."

"Oh? Why?" She looked back to find him grinning.

Leon pocketed his phone and glanced around before looking back at her, "It's ours."

"You mean—you were—it—" She stammered, unable to process what he'd just told her, beyond one word, which made butterflies creep through her stomach: ours.

"If you were interested." Leon lifted his hands, "I know it's presumptuous, but—"

Tifa jumped on him then, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. "I love it."

**..:-X-:..**

**178 – Keeping Abreast of Things**

_For justagirl8225_

Leon was sifting through a mass of papers that had been stuffed in the file—Yuffie's handiwork, he wagered—when a loud, frustrated groan came from Tifa's room.

"Oh, this is impossible." She snarled.

His back was turned to her room, but he looked up and found Duke looking back at him. The dog licked her own nose and her tail wagged once. Deadpan, he heard Tifa bumbling around behind him and sighed, pinching the skin between his eyes before turning.

"What are you doing in there?" He asked, one arm on the back of the couch.

"I'm—it's—ow!" She cursed. "I could use some help!"

Heaving a sigh, he set the files aside and stood, walking over to her room and turning the knob, pushing the door in.

Tifa was standing in the middle of her room, arms sticking straight up in the air, looking like she had been in the process of pulling her shirt over her head when the cloth became too tight and refused to come off, leaving her upper torso, head, and shoulders trapped in the blouse.

Hearing him come in, she stopped writhing around and stopped, arms still akimbo above her head, slightly out of breath. Leon sweatdropped at the display.

A beat passed.

"I think I'm stuck." She conceded, rolling her shoulders a few times to try and dislodge the caught material.

"I see that." He said flatly, crossing over to her. "What is this?"

"A stupid—it's a—it's a stupid—" She couldn't even form sentences as she tried to escape the shirt prison. "It's Yuffie's."

He blinked, unsure where to start. "And you…decided to hide in it?"

"No!" She barked in exasperation. "She lent it to me for this—this party and I—"

"Wait," He walked behind her and started trying to work her elbow through the mutated sleeve. "You borrowed a shirt from Yuffie?"

"Yeah." She grumbled from inside the inverted blouse.

"That's a little…" He paused, unsure how to phrase this. "I mean, she and you are—"

"I know, I know, but it fit fine when I put it on!" She growled. "Then I tried to take it off and it just—argh!" She flailed.

Leon saw the problem, but there was no way to tell her delicately. "If you hold still—er—no, I think you're pretty stuck."

"What? Why? Guh, it's too tight."

"That's why." He worked the material back down her arms, finding her head and pushing it back down so that she was wearing it properly.

Tifa's face was red from exertion and her hair was sticking out, static making it drift around in all directions. She looked down at herself.

"So, what, I'm trapped in it forever?" She said.

Leon's suspicions were confirmed as the blouse fit all too snugly around her bosom. Why in Kingdom Hearts she had thought she and Yuffie would both fit into the same shirt—

"Hey, eyes up here." She snapped her fingers and pointed at her face. "How do I get it off? I managed to pull it on, but now it's—"

"Does Yuffie ever wear this?" He said, reaching into his pocket.

"I don't think so."

"Then hold still." He pulled out his pocketknife.

Her eyes bugged, "What is that for—"

He found the seam of the blouse, slipped the blade into it, and held the fabric as he sliced up the side a few inches. Now that the tear had started, he put the knife away and started to pull the shirt apart. Tifa yelped at first, but then started tearing it apart herself.

Soon, the blouse was a shredded mess on the floor and Tifa was rubbing her sides, taking deep breaths now that the restraining cloth had been removed.

"Geez," She wheezed, pushing her hair back and snatching up her usual shirt to cover herself. "That was kind of barbaric." She smirked and looked at the ruined shirt. "Thanks."

"No problem." He shrugged.

"Yeah, I bet." She remarked, pulling her new shirt on. "What am I supposed to tell her?"

He scratched his head, "Kind of self explanatory…I tore it off of you."

She laughed and nodded, "I look forward to her reaction."

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 177:** Where this goes depends on the reaction to it. Let me know what you think!


	29. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as is McCallister and Nestor. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**179 – Any Happy Little Thought**

_For justagirl8225_

"Aerith, come on, it'll just take a second." Yuffie crooned, swinging the little bone at her.

"Ugh, Yuffie, please." Aerith avoided the thing in Yuffie's hand. "I'm busy."

"Good thing it's easy then!" Yuffie chirped.

Tifa looked up, chewing on the end of her pen, and watched the two from where she was sitting on the couch in Merlin's house. For the past five minutes, Yuffie had been pestering Aerith to pull on the other end of the wishbone that she had found.

Cid and Leon had stumbled in half an hour ago, twitchy from dealing with an armada of Dancer Nobodies in the Borough. They had promptly disappeared into the back room to clean up and probably eat something before going out on the next round.

"What, out of wishes?" Yuffie was pressing, bouncing on her heels after Aerith.

Now she was just messing with the poor older girl. Aerith frittered over the mess around the computer, closing open books and carefully moving abandoned drinks and mugs from the hardware units.

"As a matter of fact," Aerith finally looked at her in mock exasperation, "I couldn't wish for anything better than how my life is right now."

"Bull!" Yuffie called her out.

Aerith looked startled and then looked to Tifa for support.

Tifa shrugged, "Bull."

"But—"

"No one is that satisfied." Yuffie said, traipsing into the living room where Tifa was. "I'm not saying no one is happy with their life, but come ON. Wish for a new car, a mild winter, a diamond ring—"

Aerith's hands faltered on the papers she was fiddling with and Tifa covered her mouth to stifle her smirk. Giving her a chance to recover from Yuffie's assault, Tifa looked at the ninja herself.

"I'll play."

Yuffie put on a mask of suspicion, "You have wishes? We can't be wasting a perfectly good wishbone on something so dumb as International Special Brownies Day."

Tifa quirked an eyebrow, "Cid?"

"Who else?" Yuffie rolled her eyes and offered out the wishbone.

Tifa looked over to Aerith, who was blushing scarlet, and then spotted Cid and Leon moving around in the back kitchen. Facing Yuffie again, she reached out and grasped the other end of the bone.

"On three." Yuffie said, "One—three!" She yanked backward.

The wishbone snapped like an overstretched rubber band and Tifa nearly let go of it in Yuffie's enthusiasm. Even as Yuffie inspected her end, Tifa looked down and saw that the larger half of the bone was still in her hand.

"Aw, man." Yuffie haplessly tossed her shorter end in the trash. "You get a wish."

"Hm…" Tifa tapped her chin, looking meticulously at the bone, "Like you said, I can't waste this."

"Oh for Pete's sake, Tifa," Aerith snorted, "It's just a game. There's no real magic to it."

Tifa tilted her head and lifted up the bone, "O hear me, mystical wishbone, grant me the wish that I offer you now!" She regaled in an echoing voice. "May the—"

A loud popping and a string of curses made all three women look into the kitchen. A spray of white fluff sailed through the air and then Cid started laughing like he'd split a gut.

"What happened?" Aerith asked, stopping as Leon stumbled into view.

Tifa and Yuffie both tilted their heads.

"You're a comic genius, Cid." He was saying flatly, tossing the disemboweled canister at him and then seeing the three women looking at him.

"Shoulda seen your face!" Cid guffawed, "One wrong turn and splat! Whipped cream…EVERYWHERE!"

And indeed…Leon was covered in the white, fluffy whipped cream.

Tifa and Yuffie both looked at the wishbone.

"Damn." Tifa shot Yuffie and Aerith sly looks, "It worked."

**..:-X-:..**

**180 – One of These Days**

_For Eva Von Dee_

The pompous, flourishing air with which Council Representative Graham Nestor, aka the bane of Leon's existence, placed the folder on the desk in front of Leon was a giant warning sign that the morning was not off to a good start.

"What's this?" Leon asked flatly, picking up the file and flipping it open.

"How long did you think you could hide your little errand girl from me?" Nestor said, looking down his bulbous nose at him.

Private Tabaeus McCallister's military file droned up at him from the folder and Leon deadpanned, scanning down the words in Nestor's impossibly neat writing.

"I'm not hiding anybody." He tossed the folder back onto the desk, "She's my intern."

"It's been three years." Nestor placed his hands on either side of the desk, no doubt trying to look intimidating. But at five foot eight, 180 pounds, balding, and a turkey neck, the gesture didn't go very far. "Most soldiers are either promoted or gone by now."

"She's suited to where she is." Leon contemplated standing up, but decided against it.

"Her placement tests ranked her as 'suited' for technological training, which is not your specialty, _sir_." Nestor stressed the word.

"She hated technological training, so she switched to marksmanship."

"Not at your swaying, I presume?"

"Of course at my 'swaying'." Leon did stand at that, "You're not the special arms unit officer, here, _Councilman_, so I suggest you stop lecturing me about how to train MY interns."

"She's not your intern any longer." Nestor looked smug. "I signed the paperwork transferring her to Highwind's squad."

A bolt of lightning shot up Leon's spine, "You can't do that. Not without my authorization and her consent."

"Her consent? She's a private. You act like she has an opinion on the matter." Nestor chortled. "Honestly, Leon, she's just one soldier. There are ten thousand other recruits exactly like her."

In that split second, Leon reached down and snatched up the gunblade from where it was resting against the desk. At the gesture, Nestor's eyes went wide and he started to turn in fear, in slow motion almost. Too slow.

Half a second later, Leon swung the blade wide, in an air-slicing motion, and the honed edge of the weapon cut clean through the other man's neck, severing his head from his shoulders in one fluid motion.

Blood flew everywhere and the head flopped to the floor, rolling away as the body crumpled in a heap at the edge of the desk.

God, that felt good.

"Do you understand?" Fingers snapped in front of his face.

Leon blinked and found Nestor standing there, eying him strangely. Realizing that he'd zoned out, he cleared his throat. "What?"

"She's Highwind's responsibility now."

"No, she's not."

"Yes," Nestor took a step closer. "She is."

"There are not ten thousand exactly like her. She's MINE. I recruited her, I trained her, and I sent her into the field." Leon took a dangerous step closer this time.

"She's doing office work. Hardly the optimal place for a sniper." Nestor tutted.

"You tell her to shoot me, I'll tell her to shoot you. You're confident on how that will end?" Leon said evenly, looking from one of Nestor's beady eyes to the other.

Nestor looked slightly off put by that, "I would never—and she wouldn't—She has a moral and dutiful obligation to the Alliance and as an enlisted soldier, her loyalty is—"

"Get out." Leon nodded nonchalantly toward the door, "We're done."

Nestor huffed, straightening his jacket, and walked out, nearly plowing into McCallister as he did so. She subtly moved out of his way. He stuck a thick finger in her face.

"You WILL be put in your proper place, soldier. There are no playing favorites in this Alliance." He stomped off—point your finger at my soldiers again, Leon inwardly steamed.

McCallister didn't respond to that, just turned her eyes in utter bewilderment and confusion to Leon. "Were you two just fighting about me—"

"Don't let it go to your head." Leon shoved her file into his drawer. "What'd you need?"

**..:-X-:..**

**181 – Don't Go to Bed Angry**

_For justagirl8225_

Tifa stood with her arms folded. "But you're all right?"

Leon kept his back to her, dry swallowing the pain killers that Dr. Leng had practically threatened him into taking when he left the ER. A few bumps and bruises littered his bare back, but they weren't bad enough to need medication. The pills were for the concussion. She grimaced.

"Fine." He replied lowly, flatly. He might as well have yelled at her.

"I'm sorry I didn't answer the phone. I didn't realize I'd missed your calls until after I left—" She walked up behind him.

"It's fine." He balled up his bloody shirt and tossed it aside to the floor.

Tifa sighed, her eyes drifting to the bruise just behind his left ear, where his head had slammed against the rocks of the Great Maw. With that kind of head trauma, he'd need to stay conscious all night. Though, by the way he was keeping his back to her, he didn't want her help with that.

"I'll get some ice for your head." She half turned toward the door out of his bedroom.

"I'm fine." Was the grunted reply.

"No, you're not." Tifa turned back to face him. "You're pissed. This wasn't my fault. I feel terrible for not hearing my phone, really, I am. Do you think I just ignored your calls?"

His lack of response was response enough.

"You're unbelievable." She snapped. "You want to know why I was at Cloud's place last night? Or do you want to tell me what you assumed?"

"Stop." He exhaled, and she could hear the sheer exhaustion, weariness, and ache in that sigh. "My head just hurts, so I'm irritable."

"I don't hold that against you." She said, more quietly this time, and slowly placed her hands against the unbruised portions of his back. "But I hold the jealous reaction against you."

"I'm not jeal—"

"You know all that crap I went through with him." She said, sliding her arms around his stomach and hugging up against his shoulders. "We're just starting to talk again. You—" She pressed her lips against the skin between his shoulder blades, "—have absolutely nothing-" She kissed closer to his neck, "—to worry about."

He tilted his head a little before slowly turning to face her. She kept her arms around him, forcing him to turn in a tight circle. A cut above his eyebrow was being held closed by a butterfly bandage and there were shallow rock abrasions scratched over his cheek.

"Call it curiosity then." He asked; the heat ebbing out of his eyes slightly. His tone was definitely softer.

Tifa searched his face, found no real suspicion there, and drew a breath as his hands moved around her back. "He needed to talk things over and ask my opinion about something."

It was the truth, but that wasn't the bulk of what they had talked about. She wasn't sure if Cloud wanted her to keep it from Leon or not…If he asked, she wouldn't hide it. It was no real secret.

But the pain killers had taken the stiffness out of Leon's shoulders, and by the way his arms were pulling her closer, she doubted he was really in a state of mind to ask. Surely he cared though? Then again, she was so relieved that he'd escaped that rockslide with only a concussion that she wasn't in much of a state to care about her conversation with Cloud either.

He kissed her lips and she leaned into it, eyes drifting closed as they both stepped away from the shuttered window. Her legs touched the edge of the mattress and she involuntarily reclined, leaning back onto the bed. Leon bent over with her, and her pulse suddenly began to pump blood faster, heating her face.

"You trust me, right?" She asked, slightly breathless.

One of his hands, sliding down her back and over her thigh, nearly distracted her from his answer. "Of course. That's not what that was about." He said quietly, lifting his face enough from hers so she could look in his eyes. "It was the concussion talking."

Tifa looped one arm around his neck and pulled him to her, mindful of the knot on the back of his head. "Okay." She kissed him again, not breaking the liplock as they both slid onto the bed.

She let him unbutton and remove her blouse while she kissed his chest. When his hand brushed against the top of her pants, she involuntarily inhaled. His hand withdrew and he stopped, looking at her face.

"Are you okay?" He asked, a little breathless himself.

She took a moment. Was she okay? "Yes."

"Are you sure about this?" About where this is going? They had never…together…but he was half on top of her, and they were both half naked and…God, he smelled good.

"Yes." She nodded, "…Are you?"

He kissed her, slowly this time. "Yes."

She smiled into the kiss, feeling his heart against her chest. They continued to make out and soon the rest of their clothes joined her blouse on the floor.


	30. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are Jake, Duke, and the bartender. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**182 – Dress for Success**

_For justagirl8225_

Yuffie adjusted the corset design of the dress. "I wish I had boobs." She lamented, looking at her reflection in the dressing room mirror.

Aerith snorted, "No you don't. They're a hassle."

"They would make this dress fit better." The younger woman frowned, adjusting it again. "Tifa would fill this thing out like—"

"And for that, she has back problems." Aerith said, thumbing through the dresses in front of her. "She sees a chiropractor twice a month."

"Yeah, but she also gets Leon Therapy." Yuffie mumbled.

Aerith paused, "Are you still sour because he said no?"

"The whole town is gonna be there, Aer!" Yuffie despaired. "This isn't like a high school prom. This is a Radiant Garden-wide party. He has to go. I'm going. Why can't we go together?"

"He has Tifa Therapy."

"Yeah, and her two girlfriends." Yuffie huffed, "They've been dating for like three days."

"A month," She corrected gently, "and that's just counting how long they've admitted it. You know where this is going—"

"No. I don't." Yuffie pouted, unzipping the dress.

Aerith handed her another one, "She's helping to coordinate this party. You can't just hit on Leon all the time like you used to."

"Why not? Tifa knows I'm joking. So does Leon." Yuffie slipped into another dress.

"I know they do. That's not the thing—"

"What, she doesn't find me threatening?" She straightened, "Because even without double Ds, I'm a sexual bombshell! If Leon ever got a piece of this—" She struck a pose, "He'd walk wrong for a week!"

Aerith winced, "Yuffie, remember that conversation we had about filtering your words?" She sighed, zipping up the top of the eighteenth dress Yuffie had tried on. "He's older than you. You're like a kid sister to him and me."

"Six years is not that big'a difference." She pouted. "I'm not a child."

"But on a maturity level, you two are decades apart." Aerith looked at Yuffie. "I think this dress is the winner. It looks gorgeous."

The other woman looked thoughtfully at her reflection for a beat and then to Aerith. "I'm not declaring my love for him or anything. I just want to know why he never showed interest in you or me all those years, but Tifa shows up and they're Lucy and Ricky."

Aerith wasn't sure she could answer that. "Maybe he tossed a coin."

"Oh, har har. Help me outta this thing." Yuffie started to fight the zipper on the back.

"Okay, hold still." She stepped up behind her. "Have you asked anybody else?"

"That Jake Alms guy who's always bugging Tabaeus McCallister."

"You like him?" Aerith tried to sound open minded, but in all honesty, that guy was…a bit of a man whore.

"No, but he tells better jokes than Biggs or Wedge, and Tabaeus begged me to ask him before he asked her. So…there." She shrugged out of the dress and started changing into her normal clothes.

"Shoes next?" Aerith prompted a change in subject.

"Sure, did you already get a dress?"

"Last week." Aerith nodded.

"So you actually got ol' Chocobo Head to agree to go?"

Aerith sighed, "I got him to say he'd try, but he's got a mission the day of. He might make the tail end of it."

"So that leaves you, me, Tifa…and Leon…I vote gang bang."

"Filter."

"I know." Yuffie laughed, "But I'm getting one dance, either way." Aerith shook her head and Yuffie looked down at her chest, "Maybe if I stuffed a few chicken cutlets…"

"Yuffie."

"Hey, you never hear about 'love at first personality'."

"Lord help the man who falls in love with you."

"Walkin' wrong for a week!"

"We're in public, people can hear—"

"Float like a butterfly—"

"Where do you hear these things—"

"Sting like a bee!"

"Yuffie!"

"That's right, say my name!"

"Filter!"

**..:-X-:..**

**183 – Advice from a Bartender and Cid**

_For Eva Von Dee_

"Am I crazy?" Tifa asked no one in particular, eyes on the counter.

"Right now or in general?" The woman who ran the Traverse Town Tavern asked, not looking up from her notebook.

"Leon asked me to move in with him." Tifa replied.

Her friend looked up, chewing on her pen, "Er—haven't you two been sharing an apartment for…a few years now?"

Tifa frowned and waved a hand. "No, no, no, I mean…He bought a house…Without asking me."

"I bought a car last month without asking anybody. A man needs permission to buy a house?"

"Not perm—Not like that. I mean…yes, we're lived together for awhile and recently become…more than friends…It was obvious that he meant for both of us to live in the house and when he surprised me with it…"

"Please tell me you two christened the kitchen floor with sweet lovemaking."

"What? No!" Tifa tapped the table, "You're missing my point."

"If you find a man who wants to make that kind of commitment to you, and you haven't even had sex with him yet—" When Tifa looked at her, she whistled, "You little slut!" she laughed, "We get together for drinks and chatter every week and you leave out THAT detail?"

"That happened after the house situation." Tifa said, "I thought—"

"How was it?"

"That's not—We're talking about the house. Me, him, us—sharing a house."

"C'mon, what were his grades?" She pressed.

Tifa exhaled heavily, sensing that the conversation wouldn't go on until she told her friend what she wanted. "It was fantastic, okay? Several times. At one point, I thought I heard electric guitar in the background."

A few feet away, Jake Alms stopped dead in his tracks, gawking at her. The older woman straightened, making a shooing gesture.

"Keep walking, virgin boy." She tutted before looking back to Tifa…then immediately over her shoulder, "Speaking of electric guitar…Pilot! Gotta question for ya!"

Tifa wanted to shrink into the floor as Cid lumbered over, cigarette between his teeth, hand on a bottle, eyes on the barkeep. "What?" He grunted, "For the last time, I won't have sex with you for money, woman!"

"Oh shut up. We need a man's opinion." The woman said, chuckling at him. "Leon bought a house. What does that mean?"

Sinking…Floor…Seriously.

"It means he's madly in love with you, wants 5 kids and has the diamond ring hidden in the sock drawer." Cid puffed on his cigarette. "That's what you crazy women want to hear, right?"

The woman smacked him. "I'm serious, pilot."

Cid sighed and looked to Tifa. "Whoever put men in the box of noncommittal never met Leon. In relationships, in Radiant Garden's reconstruction…the guy's a Labrador." He exhaled smoke. "What did you say?"

"I loved the house. I was overwhelmed." Tifa lifted her shoulders.

"Do you take it back? Feel different?"

"No, but sharing rent on an apartment and living together in a house…together…It's a big step."

"Is it too big a step for you?" The barkeep asked.

Tifa mouthed soundlessly. There was no explaining this to these two. He was half drunk and she was half in his pants. Grimacing, she stood.

"Thanks, but I think I'll just talk to Leon about it."

"Shoulda done that in the first place." Cid put out his cigarette.

"Good luck, Tifa." The woman said before promptly batting her eye lashes at Cid and offering him another drink.

Tifa left the tavern and started toward the hangar. Maybe she was scared of this step. She had every right to be, right? The idea of getting more serious with Leon made her stomach flutter, but it also made her breathing constrict.

Maybe that was okay.

Jake Alms sauntered up beside her. "Y'know, I've been taking guitar lessons—"

"Go home, Alms."

**..:-X-:..**

**184 – Farce in the Furniture Department**

_For raiko. EXE_

Leon had followed Tifa halfway through the department before realizing what they were looking at. "Sectionals…really?"

"Of course." Tifa tutted, holding the cashier tickets for two desks, a drawer, a table and chairs, a vanity, and three end tables…and one high backed swivel chair.

"Might be a little cramped."

"That's the thing about houses, Leon." Tifa smirked. "They tend to hold more furniture than an apartment."

Leon sighed and looked around. Tifa had gone haywire in all three furniture stores so far. The madness appeared to have continued to store four. "It's a house, not a condo."

"I haven't lived in an actual house since before the invasion." She quipped. "So I'm going to splurge."

He waved her off…like she needed the encouragement. They had had a long discussion recently about the house. He hadn't thought that living with her in a house and an apartment were that different, but after hearing her point out those differences…and steps, she kept mentioning steps…He was starting to see where her hesitation was coming from.

It didn't change his mind any though.

"No to the sectional?" Tifa prompted.

"I don't…I don't know. I'm not against it." He shrugged.

"We can come back to it." She looked at her list—oh yes, she had a list—"Next up is the bedroom. I take it you're definitely not against that."

He looked at her and then at some of the ridiculous coffee table designs.

She smirked but then abruptly stopped walking. "No way."

Leon followed her gaze to the nauseatingly familiar design on one of the sectionals. "No way is right."

She dug out a square of fabric—he knew that salmon-puke color anywhere. "It's like the couch's long lost cousin!"

"No." Leon shook his head. "What is that?"

She held up the fabric, "A sample of the couch's upholstery. I had to make sure anything we bought would match it."

"That couch is not going into the house."

"Oh yes it is. It was part of our roommate agreement."

"I've been meaning to revise that…The only place that monstrosity is going is the trash."

"No, no, I got my couch, you got Duke. That was the deal."

"Duke stays. Couch goes."

"Duke stays. Couch stays. I'm not getting rid of it."

"I don't care. It gives me nightmares."

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 183:** That bartender is the same one from the second chapter of _Just Like the Ones I Used to Know_...I thought Cid needed a love interest...If she ends up sticking around I'll give her a name then.

Also, I've worked it out so that in order to complete all of the prompts I still have yet to write, this collection will end up with exactly 40 chapters. Woot. There will be 39 prompt chapters and the 40th chapter will be the big finale, probably one long ditty. I haven't decided what to do for it yet, so let me know what genre you'd like to see in the finale!


	31. Chapter 31

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are McCallister and Jake Alms. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**185 – Eavesdropping Part 1**

_For justagirl8225_

This was the third time this month that the intern in Leon's office sent the wrong documents to Tifa's office. Having her own recruits go to get it straightened out would only result in more martial art trainees against weapons specialist trainees—and the Alliance didn't need that mess. So she went herself…plus putting the Fear into Leon's interns was always fun…but the consistency of errors was troubling.

Recent renovations had put Cid's aero and tech department between Tifa's combat department and Leon's weapons specialist department. It was inconvenient considering how much paperwork went between them, but it was nothing compared to how much went between Leon and Cid, so…whatever.

She was maneuvering through Cid's bustling but chaotic department when she overheard a phone all in one of the cubicles.

"Dinner by candle light?...uh huh, I see right through that…I'm not saying no, I'm saying work is ruling my nights this week."

Okay, she had heard that Cid's department was a little lax, but it made up for it with productivity levels off the charts. With the cluttered cubicles and unorganized filing systems, Tifa figured it was a miracle…but setting up dates on the Alliance's phone? Seriously?

"Let's see…One week from Friday…you want me to skip—Have you MET me?"

Tifa followed the voice to the cubicle near the door. The stark, clean, almost alien organization of the soldier's space stood in huge contrast to the rest of the department. Peering over the short wall, Tifa momentarily balked…Tabaeus McCallister?

Nestor had actually found the balls to transfer her out of Leon's department to Cid's? Leon had mentioned Nestor's attempt a while back, but this looked like a successful attempt. Well, this explained why documents were off. Whoever Leon had replaced McCallister with needed to take typing lessons.

"Okay…all right you convinced me…but next Friday." McCallister was saying into the phone. "The Italian restaurant downtown…See you then at 8…bye." She hung up.

"So that's how it's done now?" Tifa made her presence known.

McCallister spun around and shot to her feet so fast one would think her chair was wired. "Ma'am."

"Did you just make a date?" Tifa asked, amused.

"I—"

"Don't you have work to do?"

"No." McCallister deflated, sinking into her chair. "I've topped my quota for the week already…All the missions are on pilot or computer assistance…I'm a lackluster pilot and terrible with computers. I haven't been to the shooting range in a week and I'm about to go insane."

Tifa snorted. "You're not the only one about to go insane."

"What do you need?" Typical workaholic.

Tifa shook her head, "Just returning this report to Leon. Whoever filled this out didn't—"

McCallister took the report and flipped through it. "Dear God…"

"Yeah." Tifa folded her arms, watching the overactive private almost desperately looking at the report.

"I could refile this." McCallister looked up. "It wouldn't take long. Just give me fifteen minutes and I'll—" She seemed to catch herself and abruptly handed the report back. "It's Cooper's handwriting." She sounded indignant about her replacement.

"Not enjoying your transfer?" Tifa prompted.

"Oh…it's not—" The soldier squirmed. "Commander Highwind is an excellent pilot and his interns are very—" A paper plane landed on her desk, "—enthusiastic." She swept the thing into the trash.

"You're miserable."

McCallister's silence was answer enough.

"Hang in there." Tifa knocked her shoulder. "I need to get this filed properly."

McCallister looked tempted to flee the pilots around her, but she restrained herself and just nodded as Tifa left. The transition from Cid's busy department to Leon's dead quiet, sterile-enough-to-be-a-hospital department was nearly dizzying.

"Cooper." Tifa snapped at the cubicles.

The dark haired soldier shot to his feet. "Ma'am?"

"I need the report on Olympus, not statistical files on Wonderland."

"Sorry, ma'am."

"Get it to me before tomorrow morning."

"Yes, ma'am."

Tifa dismissed him and walked into Leon's open office door, knocking on the frame. When he looked up from his desk, she gestured to McCallister's empty cubicle. "We need to get her OUT of there."

**..:-X-:..**

**186 – Dress Up**

_For raiko. EXE_

Having no power over one's own arms officially sucked.

"This—hold still." Tifa was grumbling.

"I can't. That's the point." Leon muttered, feeling ridiculous as Tifa tried to work his useless arms through the shirt sleeves.

"Doc says you're lucky the paralytic venom hit your arms and not your legs…or your lungs or something." She tutted.

He sighed and tried to move his arms again. Just like the past hour, all feeling and sensation ended just below the shoulders, rendering him numb to the fingertips. He'd seen Heartless poison do a lot of things, but this was new.

"It'll wear off." He grunted as she helped him into the shirt.

Dr. Leng had taken her time poking and prodding at the muscles and skin of his arms trying to tweak a nerve or find a loophole to speed up getting sensation back. Waiting for it to wear off was the only option right now…though how long it would last was debatable and infuriatingly vague.

"What is this?" He looked down at the button up shirt she was helping him into.

"I wasn't going to try to get a t-shirt, too awkward." Tifa smirked, moving in front of him to start buttoning him up.

Leon groaned inwardly at needing help to put a simple shirt on. Not in a cast, no injuries, not even in pain…He just couldn't move. It was humiliating. Then he looked down and saw glitter.

"What the—"

"So you really can't feel this?" Tifa took one of his wrists.

"No…What is this?" He frowned at what appeared to be sequins lining the shirt.

Now she was just deliberately ignoring him. "Does it just feel like you don't have arms." She held his lame hand up.

"Tifa, this—" He caught his reflection in the glass of the exam room. "Oh Hell no…"

The shirt was a deep red color, bright glittery sequins making a gaudy pattern across it and—long tassles hanging across the back shoulders.

"Good God—"

"It's funny because you're such a hardass." She snickered.

"I look like I escaped from a carnival side show." He stared at his reflection in horror.

"Wait, wait—" Tifa reached into the bag she'd brought with her. She pulled out the biggest, most neon-colored sunglasses that he'd ever seen.

"No—" He stepped away from her.

She stepped closer, unfolding the glasses. "But they match."

"Stay away from me." He wriggled away from her, his arms useless at his sides.

She cornered him and slid the glasses onto his face. "There."

"Do you hate me or something? What did I do to deserve this?"

"You can't move or feel your arms. How can I not take advantage?" She chuckled, digging into the bag again.

"I just needed help with a shirt. I don't need help embarrassing myself." He said, trying to dislodge the glasses by shaking his head.

Tifa pulled out a sombrero. "Maybe no one will recognize you." She said, plopping the hat onto his head and settling it there.

He regarded her flatly. "If I could use my arms—" He started to threaten.

Tifa went deadpan, took one of his hands, and set his palm against one of her breasts. Leon, of course, felt nothing, and swallowed a curse. His expression must have looked pathetic, because she dropped his hand and kissed him briefly.

"Just wanted to make sure you weren't faking."

"You're a cruel woman."

She snorted and picked up her bag. "You're lucky I picked those glasses instead of the fake nose and mustache one I was looking at."

"Where did you even find this stuff?" He leaned over enough to make the sombrero fall off, and one of the legs of the glasses slipped off his ear—skewing over his face.

Tifa easily slid the glasses back into place, picking up the fallen hat. "The costume shop around the block. Ready to go?"

He looked at his reflection again, "Seriously, Tifa—"

She put the sombrero on her own head with a flourish.

"Vamanos, senor." She hooked her elbow through his.

"You're enjoying this too much." He grumbled as she steered them toward the door.

Dr. Leng met them as they stepped out. If she was surprised by how Tifa had dressed him up, she hid it well. "Glad I caught you. Tests came back…Looks like the dose you got will wear off in 24 hours."

"Which leaves 23 more hours of mischief."

"Torture master."

"Sour puss."

"Jerk."

"Amigo."

"Shut up."

**..:-X-:..**

**187 – Trick or Treat**

_For Eva Von Dee_

The haunted house had been a massive success. Between Yuffie's enthusiasm as a gargoyle and Cid's very convincing Frankenstein, the big eyed little kids had nearly rendered Tifa deaf as they screamed and ran to find solace in Aerith, who was the most un-scary witch in the history of Halloween.

Leon had gotten out of participating in the show by handling all the robotic scares, springy traps, and other stunts: all behind the scenes. Tifa was regretting her decision to be a hanging corpse, as the angle had given her a monster neckache. As the last of the kids was herded home by their parents, she removed the noose and hopped off the box, rubbing her neck.

Aerith tutted, picking up some of the candy the kids had dropped. "You didn't have to make that little boy cry, Cid."

Cid, bolts still in his neck, lit a cigarette. "Little punk was being annoying. He asked for it. 'Sides, a good scare is what kids need. Why do you think Leon turned out so good?"

Leon, for his part, just turned on the overhead lights and stepped around the fog machine. "I was five, Cid, and it STILL isn't funny."

"What?" Yuffie looked mischievous.

Tifa spotted McCallister and a few of Cid's soldiers taking down the wind machines. Cid's recruits were all gruesome, bloody, pale, and downright shocking in their costume choices. McCallister, however, was simply in uniform…like always.

"What is this?" Jake Alms declared, sidling over, velvet hat, gold chains, and all. A pimp, of course.

"You just missed it." One of Cid's interns remarked.

"Apparently." Jake looked disappointed, but not because of what the others were thinking. "Where are the sexy costumes?"

"What?" Aerith blinked.

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Just because it's Halloween doesn't mean it's International Dress Like a Whore Day."

"Seriously?" Jake deflated. "A gargoyle? A witch…a—" He looked to Tifa. "Hanged person…" He looked to McCallister. "What're you supposed to be?"

The soldier deadpanned, "A soldier."

"You get a lame sticker." Jake lamented.

"Go home, Alms." Leon said.

"Ah, forget you guys." Alms waved them off, leaving.

Yuffie snickered. "Biggs and Wedge are having a real Halloween party later tonight." She looked down at her gargoyle costume. "I think undead vampire queen would be a little better."

"Hypocrite." Aerith laughed.

"Contributor to Dress Like a Whore Day!" Tifa added.

"Lame sticker." Cid mimicked Alms.

"Hey, hey, don't get all judgy." Yuffie lifted her hands.

"We judge." Leon commented, looking to Aerith, "Speaking of judging, wasn't Strife supposed to help with this?"

"Ha, what good would he be at a haunted house?" Cid snorted. "What would he do: brood at the kids?"

"Oh, back off." Aerith quipped, "Something came up."

"Did it have long silver hair?" Cid snorted again.

"Wait a second!" Yuffie exclaimed, as though having an epiphany, and pointed at Tifa. "You get a lame sticker too!"

Tifa looked down at herself. Her 'corpse' costume was basically a burlap cloak. "I'm not exactly scantily clad here…"

"Then what was that red, lacy, corset thing I saw you putting away in your apartment yesterday?"

One of the light bulbs in the mechanism Leon was closing up suddenly blew out and diffused Yuffie's comment.

"I didn't—I'd never buy a—" Tifa stammered. "I don't own any…You must have been imagining things."

Yuffie looked on the verge of another comment, but was distracted as a group of people, all in customary zombie, vampire, and dirty maid costumes, sauntered by, chattering and heading in the direction of Biggs and Wedges' place.

"Gotta go…real party time!" She scampered off.

Cid pulled the bolts from his neck. "Don't do anything stupid!"

"So…what did Cid do when you were five?" Aerith pressed Leon.

Leon busied himself cleaning up the set up. "Nothing."

"Lame sticker!" Tifa jeered.

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 185: **Contrary to belief, McCallister does have a social life…if barely one, haha.

**A/N 186 and 187:** The imagery on both of these in my head just cracked me up. I wanted to try and dress Leon up like Sir Elton John, but a sombrero and sequin shirt works well enough.


	32. Chapter 32

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as McCallister, Duke, and the other recruits. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**188 – Salt Rimmed Glass**

_For raiko. EXE_

Coughing and choking in the living room made Tifa smirk to herself as she carried the rest of the snacks into the den area. Aerith and Yuffie were sifting through Yuffie's movie collection. Well, Yuffie was sifting. Aerith was choking.

"A little strong?" Tifa teased, plopping into one of the recliners and propping her feet on the coffee table.

"A—lit-tle?" Aerith wheezed between attacks.

"I told you I make a mean martini." Tifa said, taking a drink from her beer bottle.

"I think this alone just destroyed my liver." Aerith said, setting the salt rimmed glass on the coffee table. "What's in this?"

Tifa sat up. "Vodka, strawberry, rum, and this mystery bottle of Leon's that I found in the fridge with a pirate hat drawn on it."

Aerith's eyes widened and Yuffie snorted. "Don't get excited. That's the Thank You rum from the Turners at Port Royale. Leon was a jerk and wouldn't let me try any."

"Unlike some people," Aerith said, rubbing her throat, "I actually like to be able to remember girls' nights."

"But it'd be hilarious if you drunk dialed Cloud." Yuffie snorted. "So—" She held up two movies, "Zombie apocalypse or alien invasion?"

"How about neither?" Aerith sifted through the pile of movies. "Oh, here's Life of a Rose…So romantic…or Eyes of Desire…"

Yuffie made a gagging noise, "Yeah, let's highlight how single I am by watching sappy movies." She remarked sarcastically.

"We don't have to watch movies." Tifa shrugged.

It had been a while since she'd had a girls' night, and despite her best efforts, the apartment was a mess for it.

"We could do facials, mani-pedis, or just talk. I live with the Silent Wonder, I could use some girly conversation." She said, nodding toward Leon's empty room.

Yuffie followed the nod. "Okay. Why do you two have separate bedrooms?"

"I changed my mind. Zombie movie." Tifa looked to the movie pile.

"I mean, will it be that way when you move into the house?" Yuffie continued.

"Rose Life—or whatever?" Tifa looked to Aerith, but the flowergirl had latched onto the shift in conversation.

"How is that whole situation going?" Aerith asked mischievously.

"Why do you two always give me these little grins whenever this conversation comes up? It's creepy." Tifa shifted away.

"Why are you evading?" Yuffie pressed.

"Yeah, this qualifies as girl talk." Aerith teased.

"Has Cloud proposed yet?" Tifa changed tact.

Aerith blinked at that, but Yuffie wasn't thrown. "You two aren't as big a secret as you think you are."

"Zombie movie it is." Tifa snatched up the movie, going to put it in the player.

Aerith recovered herself and snickered, getting her revenge for Tifa's martini attack. "Seriously, what IS with the two bedrooms?"

The first seconds of the movie immediately jumped into blood, gore, and brains.

Tifa threw herself back into her chair. "No talking during the movie!"

**..:-X-:..**

**189 – Hourglass**

_For justagirl8225_

Jafar was enjoying this too much.

The sorcerer-turned-genie had been terrorizing Agrabah for a week now. Considering how showy and arrogant he was, Leon had thought the wiry man would have wanted this to go down in the middle of the city so everyone could witness his power.

Instead, they found themselves duking it out in one of the deep, smaller chambers of the Palace. And due to the climate of the desert world and Jafar's tendency toward fire magic, it was like an oven in there.

Tifa had disabled the frumpy little Abismal character with ridiculous ease. He must have mustered up a wish before she knocked him out, however, because one minute Tifa was back at Leon's side, trying to get a shot at the black lamp that would end this, and the next she was flying off her feet, slamming into the lower half of a 100 foot tall hourglass.

"Why don't you take a little time out?" Jafar cackled as sand started to pour in from the upper half.

Leon took the maniac's distraction to move out from behind the melting stone pillar to the pedestal where the lamp was. Sweat was stinging his eyes, but his forearm was so slick that trying to clear his eyes just smeared it around.

"You're in over your head." Jafar snapped, and the pedestal grew upward 20 feet, out of reach.

Leon and Tifa had been burning through cooling potions just to keep from overheating; they could barely spare the ether for magic attacks. Not that those were very effective against the powers of a fully fledged genie anyway.

Facing Jafar again, Leon saw the sand still pouring into the lower chamber of the hourglass, and Tifa slamming her heel into the glass wall of it. Foot-long shards of glass and sand spilled across the floor. She found him and nodded to show she was all right, and he started to try and reach the lamp again. Unfortunately, Jafar found him too.

"Not so fast!"

The thing that slammed into his stomach could have been a giant arm or solid rock; either way, the force of it sent him flying backwards at the field of jagged glass across the floor.

"Aeroga!" Tifa's wind spell slapped the glass clear of the floor and slung the shards at Jafar.

Leon hit the ground hard, releasing the gunblade so that he didn't accidentally impale himself. He rolled with the momentum, but the loud snapping and flare of pain up his arm told him that it had cleanly broken. He cursed and rolled up to one knee, trying to get his bearings.

Jafar took the faceful of glass and reciprocated by magically slamming Tifa against the wall, where the long, crimson curtains began to wind around her body like vines.

"I wish for friggin' air conditioning!" came a voice from the pedestal.

Both Leon and Tifa, whose leg was bloody from kicking the glass, looked over to see Tifa's recruits spilling in through the unblocked entryway. The private on the pedestal was holding the lamp.

"Took you long enough!" Tifa snapped.

One of the recruits—Leon didn't bother to notice which—cast a healing spell in his direction and the bone in his arm snapped back into place with a painful wrench. The pain almost immediately dissipated afterward, though, and he snatched up the gunblade again as the recruits set to helping Tifa untangle herself from the curtains.

"Your cavalry won't save you." Jafar boomed, his genie-form expanding to almost fill the entire chamber. The ceiling began to crack and buckle under the pressure.

"Oh yeah?" Aladdin had appeared—where were they all coming from?—and was holding the black lamp at arms' length in front of Leon's recruit Private Cole Marcus, who was holding up a blowtorch with a manic look in his eyes.

"What?" Jafar thundered.

Aladdin set the lamp down. Marcus gunned the blowtorch and the blue and white flames shot out of the nozzle, engulfing the lamp. A sudden gust of angry wind from the angry genie extinguished all of the torches in the chamber, save for the blowtorch and the flaming lamp.

In the sweeping darkness, Leon saw the curtains go lifeless around Tifa's body, and she slipped out of the material, falling only a few feet before the Magic Carpet caught her and carried her back down to ground level.

"NOOOOOOO!" Jafar was screaming as Leon maneuvered through the soldiers and emerging Heartless toward Tifa.

Seeing her leg not badly injured, he exhaled in relief and Tifa did the same as she saw no shards of glass sticking out of him. Then they both promptly hit the floor, tired and overheated.

**..:-X-:..**

**190 – Eavesdropping Part 2**

_For Eva Von Dee_

As usual, most of the east wing was dark by the time Leon left his office. A few interns were milling around, pinned with the graveyard shift or frantically trying to make a deadline. Cid's latest campaign in Deep Jungle had wrapped up that afternoon, and his more proactive recruits were in their cubicles writing up the reports for the mission, but not many.

He walked past the department, involuntarily glancing across the desks. The organized chaos in there was still chaos, but that was a very Cid-way to do things, so Leon never said anything about it.

Cid had mentioned a few weeks ago that Private McCallister was "a bit of an oddball" and not really meshing well with his other recruits. There seemed to be no pleasing her, and Tifa had even started ragging on him to get her back in his department. Like he hadn't tried, but Nestor had hoodwinked the board about the whole situation. Favoritism…what a load of shit.

He treated all of his recruits the same. If McCallister screwed up, she got the same consequences as Cooper or Marcus. The difference was seniority, and if seniority was favoritism, then Nestor should have been voted out years ago.

So of course she didn't 'mesh well' with Cid's devil-may-care interns, where it came to meshing, the private had a bit of a stick up her ass.

"I know I said I had the day off, but something came up…Don't go there, you know I wanted to see you again…"

Leon stepped out of the department into the lobby area of the tenth floor. Last week's mission in Land of Dragons was still making his knee click, so he had been planning on using the elevator, but if there was some woman babbling with her boyfriend, then he'd suffer the knee and begrudge the stairs.

When he turned the corner, however, he recognized Tabaeus McCallister's back turned to him, on her phone: the culprit. She was just stepping off the elevator.

"This isn't up for debate…No, I can't just call in sick. It doesn't work like that." She was saying. "You were aware of my career's demands. No, I'm not saying—Stop putting words in my—Fine, we're done." She hung up abruptly and groaned, shoving the phone in her pocket.

Then she turned around and spotted him, looking startled before immediately snapping to attention. "Sir, I'm sorry, I didn't realize—"

"At ease." He frowned. "Today was your day off." There was no pretending that he hadn't overheard her.

"Technically, but—" She looked down at her sooty appearance. "Deep Jungle and all—Report needs to be filed."

He grunted at that and hit the down button on the elevator.

An awkward beat passed.

"You could do it tomorrow." He suggested.

"I'm already here." She sighed.

"Cid would let you pin it on one of the new interns."

"Please don't insult me, sir."

He stepped into the elevator and hit the ground floor button.

"Keep your day off next time." He said, looking at her flatly.

The private offered a smirk that only turned up one corner of her mouth. "No promises."

Another quiet beat.

Leon frowned, "You don't belong in that department."

She didn't respond to that and the elevator doors started to close.

"You belong in mine," He almost growled at her. "Nestor's an idiot."

McCallister looked almost relieved for a brief moment, but then swallowed and started to walk away. "Good night, sir."

Then the doors closed and the elevator began to descend.

Leon cursed and stared at the closed doors. Maybe she did belong in Cid's department. Maybe Leon had gotten too used to having her as his subordinate. Maybe he didn't need her. He had an office full of five other recruits who were just as qualified to—

The elevator reached the ground floor and opened to reveal his two interns Cooper and Harper mopping the floor, which was covered in some sort of magical powder, and Merlin standing against the wall, looking highly unamused by whatever they had done. Cooper's eyebrows had been singed off. Both privates shot to attention as Leon stepped out of the elevator.

He sighed in exasperation as he walked past them. "Damn Nestor."

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 189:** I watched Aladdin the other day and decided Jafar is kinda fun, so I threw him in there…and I'm always throwing Leon's recruits in there, but Tifa has them too, so I tried to wiggle them in some screentime as well.

**A/N 190:** Hm…Should Leon get McCallister back? Or is it more fun to shun her into Cid's jurisdiction? Either way, his other interns are sorta morons, haha.


	33. Chapter 33

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are Duke and Jake Alms. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**191 – Rock, Paper, Scissors**

_For justagirl8225_

Tifa opened the door to the storage garage, blinked, looked around, looked inside again, and then turned to Leon.

"What did you do to my jeep?"

Beside her, Leon looked from her to the jeep. "What?"

Tifa stepped into the garage and surveyed the gutted body of the vehicle. Rusted innards had been pushed into a pile, and auto organ transplants were stacked against the wall. He had been at this for a while, she noted.

"It doesn't run yet, still." He went on.

She peered into the hollow engine cavity. "Clearly." She straightened, "When do you find time to do this?"

He shrugged and walked around the back, where the hatch door had been removed. She followed and looked inside at the threadbare and aged upholstery, which was fraying and peeling from the floor.

"You've been too busy and—" He shrugged again. "—you weren't supposed to see it yet—Anyway, the chemical I put on the inside should loosen the glue and make it easier to tear the old carpet out."

Tifa grinned, "You were going to surprise me?"

"No." He grunted, busying himself with a few tools.

"You were!" She laughed. "I'm touched."

"It's just a car." Leon mumbled, looking a little pink at her reaction.

"But it was a piece of junk and now—"

"It's still a piece of junk, just in pieces."

"Buh-buh-buh!" She cut him off. "It's a Frankenstein…a caterpillar in the cocoon…Aerith before her morning coffee…"

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "You want a moment alone with it?"

She shoved his shoulder. "No, but I do want in on it. It's my jeep. I can't let you have all the fun."

"Fun? Fine, you can tear the old carpet out while I align the steering."

Tifa took one look at the gritty, mangled upholstery and then looked to Leon. "Or…You could do that and I'll align the steering."

He gave her a flat look, which she returned and a beat passed.

Without a word, they both lifted a fist. They both shook their fist up and down twice and then threw. Tifa made scissors with her fingers. Leon made a rock.

"Damn." She sighed as he smirked and mock crushed her scissors with his fist. "Two out of three?"

He just handed her the tools to tear out the carpet. "Enjoy."

She took them and faced the carpet, her nemesis. She had just climbed in and set up to start the task when Leon leaned in, twisted the pliers around one of the awkward knobs on the console, and smacked the top of the dashboard. In response to the abuse, the old radio chugged to life, gurgling at first but then clearing in a few seconds.

The last time she had seen the jeep, it had been a rusted beast held together by duct tape. Now it was a skeleton, well on the way to reconstructive surgery.

"Hey, Leon?...Thanks."

"Yeah, yeah."

**..:-X-:..**

**192 – Boxers or Briefs**

_For justagirl8225_

Jake Alms was officially annoying.

"Don't you have a job? Other friends to annoy? Grass to watch grow?" Tifa grumbled, looking under cars in the parking lot and around the boxes in the alley.

"Right now I have a dog to help find because SOMEONE lost her." He teased, looking around the parking lot as well.

"I did not lose Duke." Tifa snapped. "She roams around Radiant Garden off leash all the time. She's too in love with Leon to run away."

"Then why are we looking?"

"Because it's been three hours and Leon has enough trouble keeping his recruits in line without adding a missing dog."

Jake straightened. "Is Tabaeus seeing anyone?"

Tifa groaned. "If you're not going to help me look, then spare me the torture of your presence and go home."

"I'm just curious."

"Don't even think about it."

"Why not?"

"Leon would kill you."

He huffed and whistled a few times. When no golden retriever popped into view, he just meandered after Tifa, who moved into the alley behind the ice cream shop.

"Let's play a game."

"Quiet mouse." She prompted.

"Haha…Morning person or night owl?"

She gave him a flat look, still walking. "Night owl."

"Coffee or tea?"

"Coffee."

"Dogs or cats?"

"Dogs, obviously." She said, at least this was better than his usual endless double entendre about everything.

"Boxers or briefs?"

"What?"

"If you were a dude, boxers or briefs?"

Tifa looked at him. "If you were a man, which would you choose?"

He mock laughed at her and she shook her hand. Not seeing Duke anywhere and really starting to get worried now, she stepped out onto the cobblestone.

"You check the pound, since you work there right?"

"Girls love a man with a puppy."

"—and I'll see if she went back to the apartment or Merlin's."

"You didn't answer my question."

"What? Oh…" She rubbed her palm against her forehead.

If this would get rid of him faster…

"I'd wear the same kind of underwear as I am right now." She looked at him. "None."

The man nearly fell over. "You go…commando?"

"Well after the pillow fight with Aerith and the jello fight with Yuffie—I guess I just forgot." She shrugged lightly. "Now go check the pound."

As the poor bastard staggered away Tifa saw Cid shaking his head at her.

"Don't do that to him…He'll nosebleed all over the place."

**..:-X-:..**

**193 – In the Doghouse**

_For justagirl8225_

Duke was lying there, calm as you please, curled up on the concrete floor of the pound, locked in her own fenced in area, like a prisoner in a cell.

"Her tag must have fallen off. We didn't know whose she was until Jake Alms recognized her." The worker was saying.

"And what was Alms doing here?" Leon said, following the man back to her.

"He works here." The worker said, unlocking the fence door.

Duke climbed to her feet, tongue lolling as she trotted out of the cell. She looked up at Leon and licked her nose at him, tail wagging.

"Don't play innocent with me." He remarked under his breath as the worker turned back toward the front. "You're lucky I'm bailing you out."

The man half turned back. "Sorry?"

"Nothing." Leon said, the dog following him back to the front of the pound. "Where was she found?"

"In the alley behind the pawn shop. She'd apparently gotten caught on some fencing and a passerby happened to follow her barking." The worker looked mildly disapproving. "You really should keep your dog on a leash if you can't control her."

Leon was getting impatient, but his expression stayed flat. "Well, I'm here now, so I can just take her home?"

The man at the counter looked uncomfortable. "Policy dictates now that before we release found animals, we scan for chips."

"Chips? She's a dog, not a robot." He mumbled.

"Some owners opt to have a chip implanted under a pet's skin, so they can locate them in case they get lost." The man said, fidgeting. "Because tags can be torn off."

Leon ignored the jab and handed over a pouch of munny to pay for reclaiming her. "I'm not worried about her running away or getting lost. So don't try to sell me on this."

"I wasn't trying to, sir." The man said placidly.

The side door opened and Jake Alms poked his head in. "Hey, some lady turned in another golden retriever, found her tottering around in some parking lot—Hey, Leon." He waved.

Leon grunted in reply, looking flatly to the worker. "I'm taking her home now."

Duke leaned around his legs, eying the other dog that Jake was leading toward the back. She keened at it and the other canine turned, ears lifted in interest.

"You can make friends later." Leon said, ready to get out of this place.

"Sorry about this." Jake apologized, looking genuinely upset for some reason. "I tried to tell them to call back and tell her it was a mistake, but policy and all that—"

"I was just getting to that." The other worker remarked.

Leon frowned, "Call who?"

Jake paused, "You didn't—" He swatted the other worker's arm. "Will you stop pussyfooting around and just call them back? We can remove the chip and just—"

"Your dog has a chip." The worker talked over Jake, looking to Leon.

Leon paused, looking from the worker, to Jake, and back to the other man. "No she doesn't."

"We scanned three times to be sure." The worker said, "She has a chip."

"But I never had a—" Oh this was ridiculous. "Maybe Tifa did it."

The worker poked at a few keys on his computer. "The chip was registered under a Mr. Tom Riley, complete with all contact information in case his dog was lost."

Heat began to spread at the base of Leon's neck. "You scanned the wrong dog."

Jake sighed, "They called Riley before I recognized her. I'm sorry, man."

Sorry? Leon deadpanned, for what? It wasn't like—

"We couldn't get a hold of Riley, but his wife said she could come by this afternoon."

"To…what?" Leon forced himself to ask.

"This dog is registered in Riley's name. That family is her rightful owner."

"She's a stray."

"Apparently not." The worker said quietly.

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 193:** There will be a second part to this, so…bwahaha, cliffhanger!


	34. Chapter 34

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are McCallister, Alms, and Duke. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**194 – Flag Football**

_For justagirl8225_

Cid put his cigarette out with his boot, watching the pilots in training as they waged war on each other in the training field. It had rained a monsoon yesterday, leaving the grass soft and the dirt soggy. They looked like a bunch of muddy rats flailing around out there.

"You look like you need a drink." He commented without looking at Leon, tugging out a fresh cigarette.

The younger man grunted something, watching Cid's hopefuls on the field. "How exactly is this training?"

"Too stormy to let their clumsy fingers at flying ships, and too much lightning to get anything done on the computer…Physical training." Cid said, holding the cigarette with his teeth as he pulled out his lighter. "War, thy name is football. I gave 'em flags, but they're too damn competitive to not tackle each other."

He glanced sideways at Leon, just enough to see the dark circles under Leon's eyes and the slump in his shoulders. He returned his eyes to the field. "You sleepin'?"

"Not right now."

"Smart ass." Cid lit the cigarette, taking a drag from it. "Seriously."

Leon looked like he wasn't going to answer for a moment, but then exhaled and folded his arms. "It's just been—lately—nevermind."

Cid frowned and then barked at the field. "Miles, don't tell me you're gettin' your ass handed to you by her: she's half your weight!"

Miles was a smart pilot, who was an uncoordinated mess outside a cockpit. This was evident as McCallister pinned him to the ground.

"She's mean!" Miles yelled out of the mud.

"Then put an elbow in her throat." Cid snapped. "Hey, Sam, your uniform's dirty; get over it and get in there with the rest of the class." He looked jokingly to Leon. "That scrappy woman is making my recruits look bad."

Leon didn't respond to that at first. "She was trained to do that."

Cid groaned. "Now, don't start bitching at me about her. I had nothing to do with her transfer. Or your dog for that matter." When Leon tensed, Cid exhaled smoke, letting the nicotine soften him up. "I heard they want her back…"

"…"

"She's your dog, Leon." He pressed. "They didn't do shit to find her until the pound happened to find that chip."

"There was a war going on—"

"Because that's an excuse." He remarked sarcastically.

"She's a widow and her daughter—"

"Don't play soft. She's your dog and no droopy eyed kid is gonna change your mind about that." He sighed. "Their story's sad, sure, I get that. But Duke would have died out on the street without you, so that supersedes any fucking chip in her skin."

He couldn't tell if any of his words got to Leon, but the younger man straightened and turned away from the field. "Your training exercise is over."

As he walked away, Cid looked to the field to see Todd Crin slam McCallister into the ground, now the last one standing. He stood over her victoriously, then to Cid proudly. His distraction gave McCallister the opportunity to sweep his ankles out, block his wild blind swing, punch him in the jaw, and roll to her knees on top of him.

"That's enough." Cid called over. "Game over."

The muddy, some bleeding, soldiers staggered to their feet, and he noted how McCallister was missing a tooth, hair slapped to one side by the mud, and eyes that kept sliding to Leon's vacated spot at Cid's right.

He dismissed them before they could start whining and glanced back the way Leon had gone. Stubborn bastard was too prideful to admit he cared so much about that dog. Jake Alms, who worked at the local pound, had bullshit through some fancy words so that the Riley family couldn't take Duke away immediately. Had to give Alms props for that.

Now there was just a matter of trying to dissuade the Rileys from taking her back. Cid didn't see the problem: Duke had been a stray on the streets for a few years until Leon took her in. That dog was Leon's. No ifs, ands, buts, or shitstorms about it.

Cid lit a fresh cigarette. He'd have a talk with Alms later about that whole mess, since Leon wasn't talking. And it was a mess. Riley wasn't home to that mutt. Leon was, just like how this squad wasn't McCallister's place…Dammit, this was going to be a pain in the ass.

**..:-X-:..**

**195 – Chemical Reaction**

_For justagirl8225_

"You look like Barbie." Dr. Leng remarked, opening the medical file.

Tifa frowned, sitting on the exam table. "Can you fix it?"

Dr. Leng flipped through a few pages. "There's nothing medically wrong with you…You're just...blond."

"It was that stupid Sorcerer Heartless." Tifa fumed.

"There's no scientific solution for magic. Have you tried dying it?"

"Of course I tried that, but as soon as it dries, it turns blond again." Tifa huffed, the tight blond curls hanging around her face.

"Don't knock blonds." The doctor quipped, her own platinum blond-starting to gray-hair up in a ponytail.

"I'm not, but I'm not supposed to be blond." Tifa twirled a lock of it around her finger, eying the golden strands.

"Well." Dr. Leng closed the file. "I recommend seeing Merlin. If it's magic, he's the expert."

Tifa sighed and stood, pulling her hair up into a ponytail and jamming the ball cap on her head. The doctor snorted.

"You aren't hiding anything, hon."

"It makes it less noticeable at least." She tutted. "Thanks."

Dr. Leng opened the door to the lobby, but paused. "Are you okay?"

"Fine, why?" She quipped.

"You seem a little…twitchy."

"Twitchy…is that your professional diagnosis?"

"Your hair was turned blond…not exactly scandalous." Dr. Leng tilted her head. "Are you trying to hide it or something?"

Tifa frowned. "Imagine you're me, and you walk through town looking like this. Between the hair, the bare legs, and the breasts—Would you want to subject yourself to the playboy bunny jokes?"

"And Leon doesn't like blonds?" Dr. Leng chuckled.

Tifa snorted. "That's the least of my worries."

"Really?" The doctor inquired. "I'd think you'd be okay with being blond…considering that the dark hair makes you look like—"

"I'll go to Merlin." Tifa said, more sharply than she'd intended. "I'm not trying to remind him of Rinoa, okay?"

"I never said—"

"My natural hair color is my natural hair color. It has nothing to do with her or Leon. I don't remind him of her." She went on, feeling slightly insulted by the implied statement.

Sure, maybe she had reminded Leon of Rinoa when they first met and before they got to know each other, but now…after everything…No.

Maybe the best way to make sure was to dye her hair…but then what? Dress differently? No, she refused to change anything about herself for the sake of Rinoa's memory. To do that would only reveal how truly insecure she was and how much the other woman's ghost—or lack thereof—had power over Tifa. That kind of weakness was unacceptable.

"I didn't mean anything by it." Dr. Leng said apologetically.

Tifa exhaled. "I know. I'm sorry. I just—weird day."

"Understandable." Dr. Leng bobbed her head. "I can call Merlin if you want."

"Nah." Tifa shook her head. "I can just walk there. It's just blond hair, right? Not exactly scandalous."

**..:-X-:..**

**196 – Louder than Words**

_For raiko. EXE_

There were hundreds of thousands of people who perished in the invasion of the Heartless and the subsequent wars that ravaged the worlds. The simple truth of it was that hardly any bodies had been recovered from the invasion, making a funeral, good bye, closure, all especially difficult.

Not long after Radiant Garden was refounded, the Council had voted to erect a memorial for the lost souls, and, more importantly, for the mourning souls left behind. It was a simple fountain, marble and nearly 10 meters in diameter. It was a few feet deep, the blue base littered with coins from nostalgic wishers. At the center of the fountain stood an abstract artwork, with spheres and ellipses and twirly bits that gave Tifa something to look at and analyze while she was lost in her thoughts…like now.

Her parents were dead. So were Aerith's, Leon's, Yuffie's, Cloud's, and Cid's. Twelve years had dulled the pain, but on some days it still hurt to think about how much she missed them. The smell of her father's cologne, the old songs that her mother used to sing to herself on the radio.

Leon's arms, wrapped around her, eased the pressure in her chest. He seemed to always know what she needed at times like this, rather than what she wanted. She wanted to be alone, to have a pity party, a good cry, or maybe just collapse to the cobblestone beside this memorial. But he was standing behind her, arms around her torso, holding her up on her feet.

No empty words or sympathetic speeches about 'better places'. She took no solace in such things and it wasn't Leon's strong suit. His strengths were in his actions. Kill the Heartless, rebuild a world, hold someone in pain. Not sitting around, philosophizing about what it all meant…because the Heartless could not be rationalized. That was the sole reason she didn't have parents.

Tifa leaned back into the embrace and looked down at his arms. For once, he wasn't wearing his gloves, and she could see the pale scar that ran deep across the web of his thumb: a souvenir from the attack on the Bailey. His hands were rough and calloused from carrying the gunblade for over ten years. His pinky was crooked from a bad break after digging survivors out of a rockslide for five hours straight.

His forearms were sharply toned and muscled. His upper arms, on either side of her shoulders, were thick and solid as rock. Physically, he was a strong man. These arms could kill people, move mountains, and swing a sword hard enough to decapitate anything with a neck; and right now they were just wrapped around her.

She could never tell him how grateful she was for that.

Drawing a slow breath, she looked at the fountain again. She knew a thing or two about strength. It wasn't determined by how many Heartless you killed or the fact that you never cried. You weren't strong just because you could bench 300 pounds or didn't flinch when you heard an unexpected gunshot.

Strength was getting out of bed every morning, telling a child it was going to be okay when you know it's not, and staying awake for three days straight until the rescue crew found everyone. Or just having the strength to not say anything and let a person think.

He hadn't said a word and she was already feeling better.

So Tifa drew strength from the arms around her and the silence around the fountain. After spending so long on her own, it was nice to have someone to fall back on. But it was just a loan. She would borrow strength now, but he would need it back.

Maybe not tomorrow, but he would need it back someday.

And fortunately, she had strong arms too, so when the time came, she could lend him those as well.

…however cheesy that sounded.


	35. Chapter 35

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are McCallister, Jake Alms, and Duke. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**197 – Sleeping Dogs**

_For Eva Von Dee_

It wasn't the loss of sensation in his legs, the pain in his side, or even the jagged shard of rock sticking out of his body that told Leon that he was in trouble. It wasn't the cold stone floor of the Underworld against his back or the horror on the faces of Cid's recruits as they swarmed in or even Hades' leering smile that told him he was about to die.

What made his insides—what was left of them—turn cold was the sight of the three creatures beside Hades. The three women who shared the Eye—Past, Present, and Future. The Fates. It wasn't quite the sight of them, it was the long string that they were pulling taut between them while the third lifted an ancient pair of scissors.

That's when he knew he was sunk.

"Ah, the cavalry's here." Hades remarked nonchalantly as Cid entered, his group of recruits momentarily paling at the sight of Leon bleeding all over the floor. "Too bad you're late."

"Shut your fuckin' mouth." Cid growled, sounding like an echo.

Then the man was beside Leon, on his knees, grabbing at his belt for a potion. He kept sliding in and out of focus.

"Testy, testy." Hades said smugly. "You should watch your blood pressure; wouldn't want to make this a two for one sale."

The Fates cackled and lifted the scissors. Leon found himself just watching them. He couldn't move, could barely think for the pain slamming across his body, and Cid was being—what was he doing?

"Cid—"

"Hold on, I'm putting pressure on it." He said, folding his palms over the worst of the bleeding…where the shard was sticking—

"Pull it out."

"You're delirious. You'll bleed out."

"Ah, c'mon." Hades sneered. "Give a dying man his last—"

The end of the sentence was cut off as something tackled one of the Fates holding Leon's life string. The other two sisters squawked in surprise as one of Cid's soldiers wrestled with the Fate. Hades snorted.

"And we've got buy one, get two free!" He stated, snapping his fingers.

Heartless began to materialize and the rest of Cid's squad engaged them. Leon felt rather detached from the situation, his only thought being that he wanted that shard of rock out of him…If he was going to die—

Cid pulled on the shard and a scream tore out of Leon's throat before he could stop it. If he wasn't dying before, he was now.

"Damn." Cid cursed, grabbing up a potion.

"Why did you—" Leon started.

"You said—"

"I've been impaled and you listen to me?" He wheezed.

"Need more healing items. Burned through all the ether just breaking into this place…Leon? Stay with me, man." Cid's words sounded far away.

His vision was tunneling and nausea was boiling through his chest. He had lost too much blood. He shouldn't even be alive, much less conscious and lucid—the string…the Fates.

The soldier fighting the Fates screamed as one of the creatures stabbed the scissors into the soldier's thigh. The pitch was a woman's voice, and familiar—

"McCallister, you can't kill the Fates!" Cid barked. "Get over here and help me stop this bleeding."

"I'm buying time for you to—" She was thrown sideways.

"Get over here, private!" Cid ordered.

McCallister rolled a bottle of elixir across the floor, wrenching the scissors from her thigh and snatching up Leon's gunblade, where it had landed.

"HEAL HIM!" She yelled back, jumping at the Fate with the string again.

Cid picked up the elixir, uncorked it, and dumped the contents across Leon's abdomen. It burned for a second and then a cool relief spread all across Leon's body. As his senses returned, he saw Cid shake his head.

"When we get out of this mess, that bitch is all yours."

**..:-X-:..**

**198 – Romantic Stunt**

_For raiko. EXE_

Leon was halfway through the T's in the alphabetized report listing when the door to the apartment opened and Tifa dragged herself in. From where he was working at the table, he could see the stress lines on her face.

She trudged in, across the living room, and leaned against the couch.

"Long day?" He prompted.

She hung her head. "Horrible day."

He closed the report. "What happened?"

"I don't even want to talk about it."

"Fair enough."

She rubbed her forehead and then straightened. "What's that smell?"

He glanced at the kitchen and back to her. "I overcooked some rice."

She blinked at him, paused, and then groaned. "I forgot."

He watched her crumble onto the couch like a wet paper bag. "You had a long day. It's not a big deal."

"But you cooked." She mumbled pathetically. "You told me you were going to cook for me tonight and I forgot."

"Tifa, it's not a big deal." He reiterated. "Things happen."

She looked like she might cry for a wild second, but then she swallowed and fiddled with her hair, the way she did when she was nervous. Leon studied her out of the corner of his eye. Something was on her mind.

"I was tired. All day I've been exhausted." She suddenly said, rubbing her forehead with her palm. "I wasn't alert."

He didn't say anything. She was going somewhere with this, and it must be a doozy if she was starting the divulgence like this, so he let her take her time to put her words together.

"I took my squad to Traverse Town. Was there all day. A world had been taken by the Heartless, so the districts were packed with refugees…I thought we could help sort through the chaos." Her eyes were glassy and focused on the wall.

He remained quiet, all too familiar with the panic rush of a world's collapse in Traverse Town. Waiting for her to continue in her own time, he stood and went into the kitchen. She probably hadn't eaten yet, had probably forgotten to, and what were microwaves for?

"They were a world of warriors, so the survivors were pretty battered and stubborn…" She went on. "The man who took control of the situation…I don't know if he was the leader, but the shoe fit. He worked with me all day…All day."

He quietly rummaged through the kitchen. The meal he'd cooked several hours earlier had gone bad—he'd spent too long playing the "maybe in five more minutes" game, so that wouldn't do. There were some leftovers in the fridge and a gallon of ice cream in the freezer, as well as a bottle of Jack in the cabinet. He frowned. Sloppy joes and macaroni leftovers…Not exactly the romantic dinner he'd been attempting.

"I've seen it before; I should have picked up on the signs." She continued. "But he seemed fine…all day…until he suddenly just collapsed…by then there was nothing to do about it."

While she got closer to what was bothering her, Leon heated up the leftovers, grabbed the whiskey, and went to sit next to her on the couch.

"He had been bleeding internally all day and I didn't notice." Her voice quivered. "He died because I didn't—"

"Don't do that." He interrupted gently. "It wasn't your fault."

"But—all day—"

"These things happen." He really needed to look into how to give words of comfort. "You should eat something…and have a strong drink." He offered.

She exhaled. "I'm sorry. I was so caught up, I forgot that you—"

"I can cook again tomorrow." He said. "You want the TV on to take your mind off things?"

"No, I just need some quiet." She said, slowly eating.

"I can do that." He sat back against the couch beside her.

And they just stayed like that for a while.

**..:-X-:..**

**199 – Public Opinion**

_For raiko. EXE_

"So are you two dating now or what?" Yuffie blurted, while the whole Restoration Committee was at Merlin's house that morning.

A beat passed as everyone looked around, confused.

"Who exactly are you asking?" Merlin asked, perplexed.

"Anybody!" Yuffie threw her hands up. "Aerith and Cloud are always together. Leon and Tifa just bought a house together. And Cid and that bartender lady are screwing around—"

"Hey!" Cid interjected. "I buy her dinner first."

Aerith and Tifa both looked at him with slightly disturbed expressions. Cid looked unashamed and leaned back, holding the flashlight for Leon, who was wedged between the wall and the back of the computer, tinkering with the cables and wires. Only his legs were visible from where Aerith and Tifa were on the couch. Yuffie shook her head and looked to Aerith.

"Does Cloud buy you dinner first?" She snickered.

"Yuffie!" Aerith scolded, face red.

"Okay, so you two are dating," Yuffie pointed to Aerith, "You two are screwing around," She pointed to Cid, who rolled his eyes. She looked to Tifa. "So what are you?"

Tifa looked at her flatly, and then noticed Aerith and Cid were looking at her for an answer. "Oh, come on." She tilted her head.

Leon's foot nudged Cid's leg. "Light."

Cid glanced behind the computer, adjusting the flash light. "Hey, you and Tifa: friends, lovers, or friends with benefits?"

Aerith and Yuffie's eyes shot to the computer, while Tifa's just rolled.

"Yes." Was Leon's response.

"That's not an answer!" Yuffie sounded indignant.

A knock on the door saved Leon from placating the girl, and it opened before Merlin could answer it. Jake Alms poked his head in.

"Hello, hello." He greeted smugly.

"We're not home." Tifa said blandly.

A dog barked on the other side of the door. Leon jerked and there was a thud and a curse.

"Cut the shit, Alms. What do you want?" Cid said.

"I come bearing gifts!" He answered in a singsong voice.

He opened the door more widely and Tifa blinked in surprise as Duke tore past Alms, bolting into the house like she owned the place. She ran a circle around Yuffie, jumped on the couch, licked Tifa's knee, and darted toward the computer, where Leon was just crawling out.

For a split second, Tifa saw the five year old escape from inside Leon, as he was tackled by the dog. Cid snorted and patted the retriever on the back before shimmying out of the way.

"How did you—" Tifa smiled, looking to Jake.

He looked smug. "Turns out her real owners couldn't handle her. She barked all hours of the night, chewed on everything, and basically gave them all Hell."

"So they just handed her over?" Tifa asked, watching Leon fighting Duke, who was determined to lick him silly…though he wasn't fighting too hard.

"Well, I had a quiet stray who looked like her, made a trade…They were glad to be rid of her." Jake shrugged.

"Thank you." Tifa said sincerely…because Leon probably wouldn't.

He smirked and shrugged, waving as he left.

Aerith stood by Tifa. "You guys should be nicer to him."

"Welcome home, mutt." Cid lit a cigarette as Duke, still on Leon's chest, barked and remained where she was as Leon ruffled her fur.

"Geez, Duke, at least buy him dinner first." Yuffie quipped.

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N:** Awkward chapter is awkward.

I don't know what happened with this one...Just...lost my mojo for a while there. Hopefully it'll find its way home for the next update. Thanks for reading anyway! XD


	36. Chapter 36

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are McCallister and Dr. Leng. Well, I think my muse is healthy enough to come off life support now. I hope that is the case anyway. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**200 – Drunken Confessions**

_For raiko. EXE_

Leon was **drunk**. Not buzzed, not tipsy. Absolutely hammered. Tabaeus McCallister could tell by the unholy amount of concentration he was expending just to remain sitting upright. If that didn't do it, the empty bottles on Ansem's desk were clear enough. She had never even seen him drink, much less drunk.

"What are…doin' here?" He grunted, sitting back in the chair, legs propped up on the desk.

She had no training for this.

"Did I…call you?" He squinted at her.

Technically he had called Tifa's office, been answered by her intern Blake, who transferred the call to Leon's department, where Private Marcus didn't know what to do, and he transferred it to Cid, who pinned it on Tabaeus.

"Yes, sir." She replied, awkwardly stepping into Ansem's old office.

He nodded, and then abruptly grabbed onto the arms of the chair, as though the world was spinning. Maybe his was. Tabaeus swallowed and started picking up the bottles, depositing them in the trash. He watched her with alcohol-glazed eyes. If Tifa wasn't in Agrabah right then, Tabaeus would have gotten her…but as it was, it was all on her.

"I'm taking you home." She said, walking over to the desk.

Leon looked at her sourly. "You're working for Cid."

"For a few months now." She moved his legs off the desk.

He flopped with the shift and she grabbed his shoulder. "You're not going to ask why I'm…like this?" He asked, looking both surprised at her and embarrassed for himself.

"Nope." She shook her head. "I'm not your mother. Now come on so I can make sure you get home without passing out on the sidewalk."

He smirked at that and stood, though he swayed dangerously. She grabbed onto him and slipped under his arm. He exhaled in exasperation.

"I was adopted." He mumbled.

Tabaeus blinked, "I'm…sorry?"

"You know what that means?" He looked at her, letting her help him walk across the room.

Tabaeus frowned. "Your parents are dead…Maybe you're biological parents are still alive?"

"It means I wasn't wanted." He remarked.

Oh god, why wasn't Tifa here? She grimaced, but looked at him. "That's stupid."

"No, it's not." He stopped walking, staggering slightly. "It makes sense, actually. Everybody leaves. Parents—"

"Dead." She pointed out.

"Real parents."

"You don't know that."

"Rinoa."

"Heartless." She reprimanded softly.

"You."

"Transferred…I'm here now, aren't I?"

"It's just the way things are around me. Sooner or later, Tifa will find a reason to leave too."

"No she won't." Tabaeus snorted. "She's in love with you."

He looked at her so fast that he had to grab onto her to keep from falling over. "Really?"

Tabaeus blinked. "Excuse me, sir, but for someone so observant…you're kind of blind."

He staggered again and his eyes glazed over. Before she could brace herself, he passed out, dragging her down with him and landing on top of her. She yelped out in surprise but could do nothing about it.

"Ahem." Cid said from the doorway.

Tabaeus thrashed, "It's not—get him off me!"

"I love her too." Leon mumbled.

Cid lifted an eyebrow and Tabaeus shook her head, "NOT ME!"

"Well, I figured that. He's a little outta your league." Cid remarked.

"Just get him off!"

**..:-X-:..**

**201 – Such a Funny Pair**

_For raiko. EXE_

"I can't—my grip is slipping." Tifa said over the radio.

"I'm almost there." Leon said, making his way toward the river. "Trust me, the branch will hold."

Static blasted back at him and he cursed, breaking into a run toward the massive waterfall where the Heartless had trapped Tifa. They had split up to cover more ground, and he had barely escaped a huge non-Heartless bear before Tifa called a mayday on the radio.

The Heartless had knocked her into the river, from the garbled mess she had been saying, and now she was clinging to a tree branch under his advice until he could get to her. Though by the sudden screaming over the radio, his advice was wrong.

Instead, he could only watch in horror from where he was as Tifa went over the waterfall, disappearing amidst the foam and the water and the few Heartless who clung to her. There was a hard splash and a cloud of purple smoke. The Heartless weren't bred to survive 80 foot drops into hard water. He could only hope Tifa was.

Adrenaline burned hot through his body, pushing him the last 20 feet and propelling him into the water. Slamming through the shallows, he pushed away from the embankment until the floor dropped off. Falls like that broke bones. He swam out toward the waterfall's base, cursing and praying the whole way.

When her dark haired head bobbed to the surface, he nearly stopped swimming in relief, but when she broke the surface with a scream of pain, he swam faster to reach her.

"Tifa!" He tried to grab her attention.

She momentarily slipped under the surface but then floundered back up, coughing and turning haltingly in the water to face him. He reached her at that point and slipped an arm under her shoulders to help her stay afloat.

"Leon." She sputtered. "My…my leg."

"Which one?" He said, spotting the closest embankment.

"Right." She grimaced.

He took more of her weight on that side and nodded toward the shore. "I've got a potion on the shore. Come on."

She nodded and put her arm over his neck, letting him lead. Together they paddled to the shore and when his knees hit the shallow floor, he stopped them from going forward.

"Left leg first." He warned, getting his weight back on his feet and keeping a hold of her.

She stepped forward on her left leg, finding the floor and standing. Once they had hobbled out of the shallows onto the marshy bank, they stopped and he looked down at her leg. He could see the unnatural bend in her shin, the bone pushing against, but not breaking, the skin.

"The potion—" She wheezed.

"I lied." He helped her sit on a rock nearby. "Are you okay?"

She pushed her wet hair back and breathed. "Fantastic."

He knelt down and gently grasped her leg, conjuring a Cure Spell. She winced at the touch but then relaxed under the spell.

"Sorry." He mumbled.

"It's okay. It doesn't hurt already."

"No, I meant—I should have taken the North side."

"Then you would have gone over the falls and I would have had to drag you back." She said, stretching her leg and gingerly standing.

He looked guiltily at her and she touched his arm.

"Hey, look at it this way. I get to see you soaking wet and you can't say I never literally 'fell for you'."

He narrowed one eye at her. "You're soaked too."

"Well, I rest my case." She said, and kissed him on the lips briefly before they started the trek back to the ship.

**..:-X-:..**

**202 – In a Haystack**

_For WishingDreamer5_

It had been four hours since Leon had been locked in quarantine, and he looked like Hell. He was sedated, but the muscle spasms kept making him twitch involuntarily. The monitors and IV lines plugged up to him were making Tifa's already frayed nerves stretch even thinner.

"How much worse will he get?" She asked.

Dr. Leng prepped the thick needle. "Worse enough for us to induce a medical coma, not worse enough to be fatal."

The toxin was attacking the nervous system in all five people who were initially exposed to it. The symptoms were too advanced for the antidote to help them any now, but it was still viable for those exposed after the toxin was already released, like Tifa.

"We'll have to keep an eye out for permanent nerve damage, but the toxin's active life expires after 24 hours, so he's got—" The doctor checked her watch, "—twenty hours left before he's in the clear."

Tifa looked back in at Leon and felt a pinch as Dr. Leng gave her the injection in her bicep. At least he got to be unconscious for this. He wouldn't be happy about being kept under for an entire day, but between the spasms and what Leng told her was painful lung constrictions, she would accept the aggravated comments and moody glare later.

"There." Dr. Leng said, withdrawing the needle. "Consider yourself inoculated."

Tifa flexed her hand a few times and folded her arms. "Is everyone else in the clear?"

"All but the original five, but the other four are in the same condition he is."

"Can I go in? Be with him, I mean." Tifa shifted.

"Of course…but it's going to be a rough 20 hours."

"All the more reason for me to be in there."

The doctor bobbed her head and hit the code to let Tifa through the sealed door. "It stops being contagious after ten hours, so no matter what, you're joining him in isolation for six hours if you go in there."

"Thanks for the warning." Tifa said, walking into the private hospital room.

It was all white; cold, stark white. And then Leon, red faced and twitchy. She walked over, shifting one of the plastic chairs to the bedside, but didn't sit down. She looked from his face to the monitors, and then back to him.

"You always have to be first, don't you?" She said, reaching over and brushing some of the hair from his eyes.

She could feel the fever on his skin and hear the hitch in his breathing. Aerith and the others were being administered the antidote now.

The Heartless were evolving. Paralytic venom, delirium poison, and now airborne toxins that set the nerves on the fire. The beasts were developing biochemical warfare, and they were targeting the Restoration Committee as practice.

The room was too quiet.

"You look terrible, by the way." She sank into the chair, dropping her hand to his wrist, feeling the steady thrum of his pulse.

The sudden wall of emotion that clogged her throat took her by surprise. She swallowed hard a few times.

"I envy your coma, because I'm definitely not looking forward to the next 20 hours." She remarked, but her voice cracked at the end. "But I'm not going anywhere."

She took his hand, grinning ruefully at what his expression would have been at the gesture.

"You're stuck with me."

And even though she knew it was the spasms, she told herself otherwise when his fingers closed around hers.

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 201:** The world they're on is from Fox and the Hound. That waterfall in the movie was just a beast…as was that bear (shudders).


	37. Chapter 37

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as is Duke and Cid's Unnamed Love Interest. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**203 – Tea**

_For WishingDreamer5_

The room was dimly lit, the rain was thrumming against the window, and it had been over 30 hours since she had last slept, but insomnia's claws stayed deep in Tifa. She was spread out in the recliner in the private hospital room, staring at the ceiling like a zombie.

The doctors had given Leon the drugs to lift the coma over an hour ago. His stats were improving, the toxin was expired, and they said he would wake up in his own time. Tifa just wished he would hurry it up already.

"You need to sleep."

Tifa turned her head to see Aerith in the doorway. The woman smiled gently and stepped inside.

"Tell me something I don't know." She yawned.

"Has he woken up yet?"

Tifa lifted her foot and nudged Leon's elbow. "Apparently not."

Aerith folded her arms and walked over to Tifa. "You've been here the whole time. You need some fresh air, a hot shower, and sleep."

"I need for Sleeping Beauty here to wake up." Tifa mumbled, sitting up and stretching. Her muscles protested painfully.

"Did you sleep while he's been out?" Aerith asked.

"Couldn't. The way he was twitching, fever going up and down…I couldn't sleep through that." Tifa grunted.

"Then you should have gone home."

"Couldn't do that either. Couldn't leave. He wouldn't have if he was in my position." Tifa rubbed her neck.

"He wouldn't have been alone. Cid, Yuffie, and I have been in and out of here the whole time." Aerith said.

"_I_ couldn't leave." Maybe it was the sleep deprivation, but Tifa didn't know why Aerith didn't seem to understand this.

"So you stay awake for over 30 hours to be with him," Aerith said softly. "That's noble, but stupid."

Tifa lifted weary eyes to her.

"You're going to be even more of a zombie when he does finally wake up. Now what kind of vigil is that?" Aerith put her hands on her hips. "If you won't go home for proper sleep, then I'll whip you up some of my special tea to help you sleep here."

Tifa started to retort but Leon's hoarse voice beat her to it. "I wouldn't. Her tea is awful."

Both women's heads snapped to the bed and Tifa shot to her feet. Leon looked pale and groggy, but just seeing his eyes open made Tifa's heart lighter.

"Hey! Welcome back to the land of the living." Aerith brought her hands together under her chin.

He swallowed and blinked a few times before looking to Tifa. "How long have I been out?"

"A full day." Tifa answered, moving to his side. "You're at the hospital. How do you feel? Anything hurt?"

"No…just sore." He grunted and looked at her. "You look tired."

"That's an understatement." Aerith snickered.

She was right, now that Leon was awake and lucid, the past several hours of sleeplessness were hitting Tifa hard. She sat on the edge of the bed, her thumbs smoothing the bandages on his arm from the IVs, which had all been removed half an hour ago, except for a rehydrating cocktail on his other side.

"I'm exhausted." She confessed.

He exhaled. "Me too."

Aerith chuckled. "From what? You've been asleep for 24 hours."

Tifa reclined onto the bed beside Leon. It was too small, but she rolled onto her side and curled up next to him. "Yeah, so shut up."

Leon chuckled weakly and put his lips to the top of her head. "Then sleep, stupid."

Tifa slapped his arm lightly and promptly fell asleep.

**..:-X-:..**

**204 – Popcorn**

_For WishingDreamer5_

What was it about the smell of fresh popcorn? One can't not want popcorn when one smelled it. Resisting was even more difficult when the culprit of the popcorn sat herself down behind the desk in the office with a bowl of it.

"All right. Now I'm ready." Tifa said, setting the bowl on the desk in Ansem's old office beside the stacks of paper. "For the record, this is ridiculous."

Leon had his own mountain of files around the electronic station in the computer room. "This was your idea."

"Paperwork is never my idea." She said, tossing some of the fluffy popcorn in her mouth.

Ansem's office was a mess. It looked as abandoned as the day Ansem disappeared, aside from the anachronisms of a microwave on the shelf, a mini-fridge against the wall, and some other items that the Restoration Committee had left scattered about from previous visits.

Now the Alliance had deemed the office crucial but unorganized, both understatements. The Council had also deemed it too confidential for the recruits to handle, so the department heads had been assigned to work in shifts over the next week to whip the office into shape.

So they had both spent the previous two hours pulling every file out of the numerous file cabinets lining the walls. The dust was thick and choking, and most of the files were an aged yellow color. They had set up a system that Tifa would sort through the files sheet by sheet, and then Leon would transfer the files to electronic documents in the computer.

"There is a small forest worth of paper in here." She remarked.

"Ansem was meticulous in his notes." Leon carried another box full of papers into the office from the computer room.

Tifa munched on her popcorn as he took up a marker and scrawled 'shred' on the side of the box. Straightening, he looked over to Tifa.

"You HAD to make popcorn?" He mumbled, snatching up a microwavable bag for himself.

"I can't help it. Aerith got me addicted to popcorn. She's the temptress, not me." She pointed at him.

He punched in the timer and the microwave whirred to life. Turning back to face her, he glared. "She's not the one making it smell like popcorn and butter in here."

She shrugged. "Guilty." She popped a few more fluffy cloves of it into her mouth, looking around. "She and Merlin took the first shift to clean in here, huh?"

"Cleaning being the operative word." Leon said as the bag in the microwave started to inflate as the kernels popped. "You could barely move around in here before they cleared it out."

Tifa chuckled at that and reached past one stack of papers to the dark bottle of whiskey that Cid though he had hidden years ago. "I don't think they would have approved of this."

Leon looked at the bottle, shook his head, and looked at the files. She snickered and set the bottle back down.

"I remember the last time we were both in here messing with files."

"You were ransacking and I caught you."

"And I kicked your ass."

He looked at her flatly.

"That was the first time we met." She chuckled. "Some first impression."

He grunted at that and picked up another stack to take to the computer room. She laughed and wadded up a piece of scrap paper, lobbing it at him.

"By the way, your popcorn is burning." She remarked.

Leon exhaled, set the box down, and opened the microwave. Sure enough, the bottom of the bag had turned brown and a plume of smoke mushroomed out when he opened it.

"There were 30 seconds left."

"Never trust a microwave." She quipped.

"What are you, the Appliance Whisperer now?" He frowned.

She snickered and offered him some popcorn from her bowl. "Maybe."

**..:-X-:..**

**205 – All Work and No Play**

_For WishingDreamer5_

Movie night had become a slapped-together tradition in Radiant Garden for about a month now. One night a week, the town got together, set up Merlin's large projector at the white wall of the new bank, and hunkered down on the grassy lot outside. Last week had been some romantic thing that Aerith picked out, and the week before that, a mystery thriller at Tifa's request. This week was Yuffie's pick: horror.

Now Aerith was watching through her fingers, Yuffie kept screaming over-the-top and laughing at herself when something happened on the screen. Cid and that bartender woman were making out like teenagers, and Tifa was sitting near the back by Leon, who had been voluntarily put on projector duty.

"So…basically this is a movie about cabin fever?" Tifa tilted her head.

"Apparently." Leon sat back.

The projector was one of those ancient, silent-movie kinds, with two rotating wheels and the film rolling around the reels. 'Projector duty' in all actuality was just making sure it didn't fall over or unplug itself.

"If I was snowed into a hotel with you for five months, I'd probably take an ax to a door too." She shrugged, watching Duke wriggle against Aerith, who had grabbed onto the dog.

"That's comforting." Leon sat with his arms folded, leaning against the blocks of concrete bricks that had been leftover from construction.

Tifa leaned against the wall next to him. She had seen this movie before. It was one of those that was only really scary the first time…And this was apparently both Aerith and Yuffie's first times seeing it. Leon never watched a lot of movies, so she figured he hadn't seen it either. He didn't appear too impressed either.

On the screen, the elevator doors opened and a river of blood gushed out, splashing against walls and furniture and engulfing the hallway.

Tifa saw Aerith squeak and Yuffie's eyes widen. Leon was…Well, he looked bored. Not quite bored, but she could tell he wasn't focused on the movie. She scooted closer to him and folded her legs across his outstretched ones at a flirtatious angle. Instead of giving her a flat look or a smart remark, he just shifted his arm so that she could sit closer. His arm ended up over her shoulders: which she didn't mind in the least.

"I've been thinking." He said after a while.

Tifa wasn't even watching the movie now: Aerith's reactions were far more entertaining. "That's never good."

"Modifying our roommate agreement." He went on.

She snickered and looked at him. "I'm not getting rid of my couch."

He sighed. "We'll get to that later. The topic right now is…The apartment has two bedrooms; the new house has two bedrooms…but since we've—and I mean…it seems stupid to have separate—when…"

She kept her smile under control, amused at how stuffy and awkward he was suddenly being about this. "Okay."

He blinked at her. "Okay, what?"

"Okay, we'll share a bedroom." She bobbed her head once.

He hadn't been nearly this awkward when they decided to move in together, bought a house, or even made love together for the first time.

"Okay." He nodded and idly looked to the screen again.

Tifa held up a hand. "Shake on it."

Leon looked at her flatly, at her hand, and then back to her before taking her hand and shaking it. "Weirdo."

Yuffie abruptly glared back at them. "Do you mind keeping it down? Trying to watch a movie here."

Tifa stuck her tongue out at her and Leon just propped one of his boots against the leg of the projector, silently threatening to push it over. Yuffie pointed at him as if to say 'don't you dare', and then turned back around.

A beat passed.

"I think the roommate agreement should go out the window." She remarked.

He looked at her. "Oh you do."

"Well…" She shifted, "People who are just roommates don't sleep with each other. Couples do that."

"Then I guess we're a couple." He said nonchalantly.

The darkness of the night hid most of what was surely a stupid grin that took over Tifa's mouth at that. She propped her head on his shoulder and looked back to the movie screen. "I guess so."

Everybody else screamed then as the ax punched through the bathroom door on the screen and the villain poked his face through the splinters.

"Heeeere's JOHNNY!"

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 203:** Inside joke from the Kingdom Hearts manga…Never drink Aerith's tea.

**A/N 204:** That first impression is from a previous oneshot I've written called _Hart to Hart_. Come to think of it, that might be the first Leon and Tifa interaction thing that I ever wrote.

**A/N 205:** Only Leon and Tifa could have a romantic moment during a horror movie showing. Although Cid and Unnamed Love Interest are really trying, snort, snort. Also, super special awesome potato casserole to who guesses the movie.


	38. Chapter 38

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are McCallister and Jake Alms. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**206 – Haircut**

_For Mr. Omelette_

Tifa shook her head, one leg folded over the other, turning the pages of the outdated newspaper. "Wow, it says here that they decided to begin construction on the new residential district soon."

Leon exhaled, looking at her. "That was six months ago."

The barber paused. "Look straight ahead, please."

Tifa snickered as Leon looked forward again. He looked ridiculous. Heartless had apparently developed a new species in Crystal Fissure that spat tar and acid at enemies. Leon had taken a glob of tar to the side of the head, and by the time the skirmish was over, it had partially dried, virtually welding his hair together.

Four showers and one really close call with a pair of scissors later, a good chunk of the stuff remained. By then, Leon was at his wits' end and Tifa had taken all of the blackmail pictures she could manage as he tried to snatch away the camera.

Considering half of his scalp was stiff with the black glue, it had still taken an hour and Tifa's not inconsiderable bargaining skills to convince him to just give up and go to the barber to cut it off. He looked like he was strapped to an electric chair.

"You could have done this at the apartment." He grumbled.

"But then I would never know how red your face could get." Tifa tutted.

He glared at her, "I didn't mock you when you were blond."

"Yes you did." She laughed. "Until Merlin fixed it, you called me Barbie."

"That was Aerith."

"Please don't move your head so much, sir." The barber repeated, sounding slightly irritated.

Leon begrudgingly looked forward again.

"You should buzz cut it." Tifa suggested.

"No, I shouldn't." He snapped, looking back at the barber, "She's kidding."

The man poked the side of his head. "All right, now if you'll—"

"Face forward." Leon finished irritably, turning back around.

The barber looked to Tifa, rolled his eyes, and resumed cutting Leon's hair. She snickered and set the newspaper aside.

"It's going to be really short on that side anyway." She noted.

"I've never had my hair that short."

"Well, right now, you're looking at a mullet unless you even it out." Tifa said, crossing her other leg.

"I won't give him a mullet." The man quipped. "But he's going to end up bald if he doesn't sit still."

Leon glowered and Tifa laughed. He glared at her and she lifted her shoulders.

"What? The mental image of you bald is funny." She settled down.

Honestly, she knew he was going to grow it back out as soon as the tar was cut out, but she was already missing it. She liked running her fingers through his hair. If she told him that, though, he never would have agreed to come here.

"Just be glad it was tar instead of acid." She remarked. "Better tar than acid melting through your brain."

"Could have had Aerith cut it." He mumbled.

"But then you'd have Yuffie to deal with." She pointed out. "And she would have found a way to dye your hair purple or something."

Leon looked at her, "At this rate, there won't be anything left to dye."

Tifa sighed and decided to take pity on him. "Hey, it'll grow back, and in the meantime, I'll buy you a funny hat to cover it up."

He didn't look amused. "Well, maybe this—"

This time, the barber put his hands on either side of Leon's head and physically turned him back forward.

**..:-X-:..**

**207 – Wardrobe**

_For Mr. Omelette_

"That's what you're wearing?" Tifa asked.

Leon felt like he'd been beaten with a stick and trapped in a wind tunnel for three hours. "Yes."

"It's a court hearing." She pointed out. "You need to dress up a little."

He looked at her flatly. "I just got back from The World That Never Was after a three day conference. She's lucky I'm going at all."

"McCallister has been called before the Council because of you. You're required to go. Attempting to look respectable would help her case."

She was right, but the idea of putting his bruised back muscles through the changing into a suit was less than appealing. This whole situation was ridiculous, but the sooner this case was over with, the sooner he could get back to doing something useful.

"She wouldn't have a case to need help with if Nestor knew how anything worked around here." He growled, going back into his room to fish out something courtroom-worthy to wear.

"Does he just have it out for her or something?" Tifa asked, leaning against the doorframe and folding her arms. "First he transfers her out of your department to Cid's, now he's accusing her of insubordination and disrespecting the chain of command."

He shook his head. "He wants to feel powerful and going over department heads makes him feel important."

"Or he just doesn't like you." She smirked.

"Then he's stupid."

"He's stupid for not liking you?"

"He's stupid for tarnishing a private's record just to irritate me."

"You think that's what this is about?" She lifted an eyebrow, "Because, technically she did yell at her superior officer and put the squad in danger with her reckless behavior."

"Certain situations—"

"Nestor sees in black and white." Tifa remarked. "He's only going by what Cid's interns said."

He sighed. "All I know is she did what she had to. That's what I trained her to do. I was a little preoccupied trying not to bleed to death to reprimand her about protocol."

She tilted her head, her expression softening. "Then tell the court that."

Before he could respond to that, she abruptly walked past him and dug something out of his closet. He inwardly sighed as she brandished the military uniform at him.

"And if you tell them that while wearing this, they'll be so intimidated that they might just acquit her." She handed him the uniform.

He took it and looked at her flatly. "She owes me for this."

"She saved your life. Do this and you're even." She replied, going into the living room.

He changed into the uniform begrudgingly. Private McCallister had really stepped in it now. No matter how this hearing went, the Council would have her listed as a risky soldier from now on. Maybe that would make it easier to get her transferred back to his department. He'd take her over any of the cookie-cutter recruits that Nestor did approve of. Cid hadn't taken offense or disrespect at her actions. So in Leon's opinion, Nestor needed to buzz off.

"There, I'm officially uncomfortable. Happy?" He said as he walked out of his room and took his phone off the charging station.

Tifa looked over and smiled. "Yes, very."

He let her have her giggles as he pocketed his phone and keys.

"So, I've got patrol this afternoon. If you get back before I get back, keep the uniform on." She said, looking mischievous.

He looked down at himself and then to her. "It's uncomfortable."

"You won't be in it long." She winked. "Consider it a reward for helping McCallister."

**..:-X-:..**

**208 – Somewhere Along In the Bitterness **

_For kikofreako_

"She did this on purpose."

Tifa didn't acknowledge Cloud's statement, keeping her eyes on the Marketplace, which for the night had become a dance floor. Aerith and Yuffie had gone through a lot of trouble to make this party happen, and it had paid off. Radiant Garden deserved a party.

Maybe the massive chocolate fountain was a bit much, but the people who had fallen or been pushed into it didn't seem to mind. Now the dancing was in full swing and Aerith had pulled Leon out there, to save him from Yuffie, who had been one of the first pushed into the fountain.

Beside Tifa, Cloud exhaled. "You're going to have to talk to me eventually."

"I have talked to you." She said, not looking at him still.

"Well, then you'll need to forgive me eventually."

Tifa narrowed one eye and finally looked at him. "I have forgiven you."

Cloud looked at her, confused. "Then why the silent treatment?"

She sighed and sipped at her champagne. "I'm tired of being mad at you, Cloud. Holding a grudge is exhausting, and if you're going to keep lying to me and refusing to tell me what's going on…then I'll stop chasing."

He was quiet for a beat as the dancers danced.

"So you've given up on me after all." He said.

He sounded defeated and it took considerable willpower to keep herself from saying that she hadn't given up on him.

"I'm not a quitter, Cloud." She said. "I stick to my guns…but you lied and ran and refused to trust me with anything…What do you want me to do? Pretend like it didn't bother me when you chose to be with Aerith?" She looked at him. "I can't do that."

He swallowed and averted his eyes. "I can only apologize so many times, Tifa, but I won't apologize for falling for Aerith."

"I don't want you to." She shook her head. "I'm not upset anymore. It took a long time, but I've moved on. I'm happy."

"With Leon." It was a statement, not a question.

Tifa paused. "Yes." When he made no response, she looked at him. "That day that you and Yuffie came to our apartment and saw…what you saw…That was a misunderstanding. The water was out and…nothing happened."

"It's none of my business."

"That's right, but I know you…I don't want you inventing things that never happened so that you can angst about it." She offered with a small grin.

He gave her a flat look at that and a more comfortable silence settled between them. Tifa spotted Yuffie and Jake Alms dancing like lunatics in the middle of the fray. Aerith was loitering by the fountain talking to McCallister, who looked unrecognizable in a dress outside her normal uniform and fatigues. Leon had vanished, probably grabbed the first escape route he could find and ran for the hills.

The fact that she wasn't worried about him disappearing on her made her feel light.

"Aerith won't stop until we make up." Cloud said.

"Then we make up." Tifa said airily. "But we aren't friends anymore."

He looked sharply at her, "You said—"

"I said I'm over it and I forgive you, but we are not friends." She said as gently as she could while still staying firm. "Maybe someday we will be, but for now…please…just leave me alone."

Cloud looked devastatedly at her, but what had he expected? She didn't hate him, had never really hated him, but he had chosen Aerith and Tifa had chosen Leon. And she didn't regret that for a second.

"Maybe Aerith is stronger than me." She hoped so at least. "Or maybe you'll trust her more than you trusted me."

He didn't respond to that and Tifa nodded goodbye, walking away.

Leon had found solace on the balcony overlooking the Great Maw from above the Marketplace. She wordlessly walked up beside him. Something on her face must have given her away, because he quietly shifted closer.

"What's wrong?"

She swallowed and realized that tears had come to her eyes. "I just lost a friend."

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 207:** McCallister's case is regarding what she did in Ditty 197: Sleeping Dogs.

**A/N 208:** Title taken from the lyrics of "How to Save a Life" by the Fray.

One more chapter and then the big finale!


	39. Chapter 39

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as is the bartender/Cid's as-of-yet-unnamed love interest, haha. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**209 – What Can't Be Unseen**

_For kikofreako_

Tifa had just returned to Merlin's house when Cid was opening a full bottle of whiskey. The other alcohol bottles littered about made a path to where Leon was sitting on the couch, pale as chalk and looking like he'd been sick. He was staring forward, catatonic.

"What happened?" She asked.

The bartender from Traverse Town popped out from behind the liquor cabinet with a bottle of bourbon. "Hi, Tifa."

Tifa nodded over to Leon, who was staring at the wall. "Is he okay?"

Cid lifted the bottle of whiskey. "He will be after this."

"Did something happen?" Tifa asked, walking over to Leon.

No blood, no open wounds, and no trauma that she could see, except for his eyes. He looked—horrified. The woman handed her the whiskey and Tifa took it, looking at her.

"Seriously, should I be worried?" She asked, waving a hand in front of his eyes and getting no response.

"I think he's being dramatic." Cid commented, "It's a completely natural act by two consenting adults—"

Leon abruptly pointed at Cid to shut him up, eyes not moving from the wall. Tifa balked.

"You'd think he'd learn to knock by now." Cid went on.

Tifa shuddered, "He walked in on you two—"

"No, no!" The woman shook her head. "We're a little more discreet than THAT."

"But not much." Cid snickered.

She swatted his arm and he looked to Tifa. "He walked in on Aerith and—"

Leon made a nauseated noise and Cid talked over him. "Aerith and Cloud…" he looked to Leon. "Not saying the name ain't gonna erase the mental image."

Tifa covered her mouth with her hand and tried to hold in the nose of horror, embarrassment, and laughter. She looked to Leon, who was chugging whiskey, to Cid and his—girlfriend?—bum-buddy?—both of whom were shaking their heads.

"Here?" She gestured, because this would be the last time she visited Merlin's house if that's what was going on.

"No, this is just where he ended up." Cid said.

"And they've stayed away?"

"Would you want to go talk to someone who walked in on you doing the horizontal tango?" The bartender quipped.

Leon topped off the bottle. "You two are absolutely no help…y'know that?"

Tifa caught the warble in his voice and looked flatly to Cid. "Your solution to everything is alcohol?"

"I don't hug." Cid said, lighting a cigarette.

"I'm not drunk…or if I am…I'm not nearly drunk enough." Leon got to his feet, wavering slightly.

Tifa looked at him. "It can't have been that bad." He glared at her and she lifted her hands. "Or it was that bad."

He wordlessly picked up the bottle again. "I'm going to the Residential District."

"I'll go with you," Tifa added, "To make sure you don't walk in front of a bus."

He offered no protest, so she said goodbye to the other two and walked out with him.

They had just entered the new residential district when she couldn't hold back anymore.

"I think you're overreacting—"

"Yeah." He said, the glazed look in his eyes gone like a flash.

She blinked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He shrugged, pulling a 180 degree change from the mess five minutes ago.

Tifa paused, and then smacked his arm. "You big faker! You're not traumatized at all!"

"Of course I'm not." He said indignantly. "I've seen worse than that. Granted, still grossed me out, but not that messed up."

"Then why—"

"Now Aerith will get off my back about patrol this week."

"You're a creep sometimes."

**..:-X-:..**

**210 – New Up-and-Comer Named Candy**

_For kikofreako_

"That was the absolute worst undercover job ever." Tifa said, stomping into Merlin's house, coat held tightly about herself.

Cid and Cloud looked over from where they were working on the computer. Aerith was playing a board game with Yuffie, though the younger woman looked more interested in Tifa's sour mood.

"Something go wrong?" Aerith prompted.

"The target that I was supposed to get information from was a disgusting creep." She answered, "Leon had to go undercover just to go in with me."

"To a strip club?" Yuffie smirked. "Where is he anyway?"

"Sneaking in the back." Tifa gestured. "We didn't want to risk getting out of costume until we got back here."

"Well, man alive, how awful could his outfit be? You're dressed like a dominatrix." Cid remarked.

Before Tifa could respond to that, Leon walked in, attacking his face with a hand towel, still wearing the dark green dress. They had had to cover his scar with make up to be convincing, and when he lifted his face out of the towel, half of it was still covered. Seeing him without a scar had been odd.

He looked around at the rest of the Restoration Committee, who were all staring at him. He exhaled heavily. "Son of a bitch."

Aerith and Yuffie burst out laughing, Cid's cigarette fell out of his mouth. Cloud just looked horrified. Tifa sighed and took off her coat, because her leather suit and thigh high boots had nothing on Leon in a dress around this bunch.

Cid stubbed his cigarette out with his boot and lit up a fresh one. "Did you at least get the information?"

"Please tell me you're wearing a thigh holster." Yuffie snickered.

"Shut it." Leon grumbled, tossing the file to Cid and grabbing up the bag with their normal clothes in it. He stomped into the back room to change.

As soon as the door closed after him, Cloud pointed at Tifa and then to Aerith. "That is NOT funny."

Aerith covered her mouth with one hand. "It's a little funny."

"No, it's not." He shook his head.

Tifa smirked, untying the tall boots to give her feet relief. "Cloud, you aren't still sour about that time we—"

He pointed at her, eyes large. "Shut it! Don't ever talk about that again. Ever."

She snickered and tugged off the boots while Aerith laughed at Cid's confused expression. Cloud shuddered and Tifa took pity on him, not pushing the taunting any further. She retrieved her own clothes and went to change out of the horribly uncomfortable costume.

By the time she returned to the living room, Yuffie had been forced to take Cloud's patrols shift so that she would leave Leon alone, and Cid was outside smoking. Aerith winced at the marks on Tifa's shoulders from where the leather costume had dug into the skin.

"I can't believe you two took that mission." She shook her head.

At the table, Leon was drinking what looked like straight vodka at what looked like Cloud's insistence. It also looked like Cloud was playing therapist, because Tifa heard him mutter, "You will never live this down. It will never go away."

"How old are they again?" Tifa snickered, "Honestly, I wasn't nearly so disgruntled when I had to go undercover as a man."

Aerith smiled. "We do tend to give them a hard time." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "You know how frail the manly ego is."

Tifa shook her head, "Maybe I shouldn't have called Leon 'Candy' all night."

Leon looked over at her. "That was not okay."

Now Cloud was drinking too. "At least they didn't make you wear a wig."

Leon snorted into his vodka at that and Cloud frowned at him.

"You realize." Tifa said, sitting beside Aerith across the room. "That if they ever actually become friends, they will band together and get us back for this."

"No they won't." Aerith winked, "Because I still have the pictures for blackmail."

**..:-X-:..**

**211 – Roses are Red**

_For kikofreako_

"So does Tifa hate me?" Cloud asked out of the blue.

"Ask her." Leon replied, signing a few reports at the work station.

"She told me she didn't."

"Well, there you go." Leon handed off two of the forms and picked up the other two files, leaving the paper room.

Cloud followed him. "What does that mean?"

"It means I don't speak Estrogen. Talk to her yourself." Leon said, walking into the weapon specialist department. "And stop following me."

"She told me to leave her alone." Cloud slowed and glanced across the office to where Tifa's combat department was. "Who's that?"

The soldier standing outside Tifa's locked office stood out like a sore thumb; not because of his goofy grin and nervous manner, but the large bouquet of roses in his hand. The marking on his uniform designated him as a weapon specialist: one of Leon's interns.

Cloud looked to Leon, "You have your interns give her flowers?"

"No." Leon said flatly, opening his own office door. "That's Private Andrew Potter. He has a…crush on her."

Both men looked over at the recruit.

"So why is he still here?" Cloud asked.

"You mean why haven't I fired him or why haven't I killed him?" Leon asked.

"…Both?" Cloud clarified.

Leon paused, shrugged, and walked into his office. "He's harmless. He's a good soldier. Does his reports on time, executes missions efficiently…He's my McCallister-in-training."

"Did McCallister ever give Tifa roses?"

"Not to my knowledge."

"So you're okay with this?" Cloud lifted an eyebrow.

"Don't you have dark corners to stand in?" Leon replied flatly, and then glanced over at Potter again. "Roses are romantic, but her favorite flowers are tulips. So they aren't having long conversations. Plus…I trust her, so I know she's not messing around. Third…he's scared of me."

"Scared of you?"

"Job requirement." Leon replied.

"What about Tifa? What does she think of—"

"See for yourself."

They both looked out of Leon's office across to where Tifa had returned to her office. Potter turned into a blushing moron, rambling and presenting the flowers to her. Tifa's eyes lit up as she took the roses, though she said something seriously to him.

"Looks like she's telling him to stop." Cloud said.

"She's told him that at least once every week for the past month." Leon said. "He's stubborn."

"You're not creeped out by this?"

"If she's not creeped out, I'm not."

"And you're not jealous or worried?"

"No, I'm not paranoid. I trust her."

Tifa unlocked her office and Potter made his exit with a quiet goodbye.

"He's at least more respectful than those idiots I had to fire for staring at her and making crass comments about her." Leon remarked.

"I don't know, if some creeper was giving Aerith that kind of attention, I'd be doing something about it."

"Cloud…go away…" Leon sighed.

Cloud frowned and stepped out of Leon's office. As he did so, Tifa opened her office and let out a cry of surprise. He looked over to see a flood of flowers in her office: in vases on the floor, on the desk, on all the file cabinets. Every surface in her office was covered in tulips.

He deadpanned and looked back into Leon's office. "Subtle."

Leon just fluffed his newspaper and lifted it to block Cloud from view as he read.

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 210:** This is supposed to be follow-up revenge on Ditty 109 in Chapter 4. The title is actually a quote from that ditty.

That's all folks for the prompts! It's been a lovely ride, and everybody gets super-special-awesome potato casseroles for sticking with this collection, submitting kickass prompts, and leaving wonderful reviews!

There will be one more update to round it out to a nice 40 chapters. This one will be a full length one shot to wrap up the collection. I will try to get it posted soon!


	40. Chapter 40

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are McCallister and Nestor. This is it, the big finale chapter! I must say, it turned out WAY longer than I intended, but otherwise it would have been too chopped off. Anyway, I hope this is a suitable end to this collection. The title of this last ditty is the same title as the song "Dream A Little Dream of Me" by Mama Cass, which was my musical muse for this chapter. Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**Dream a Little Dream of Me**

"Leon. Hey, you with us?" Cid's hand on his shoulder was rough.

Leon just sat there, only vaguely aware that he was sitting slumped forward in his seat, hardly registering the ache in his neck and the exhaustion in his joints from staying in the same position for so long without moving.

"You need to do something." Cid was saying. "Get some sleep, eat, walk around, or at least blink to let me know you're hearing any of this."

Leon slowly lifted his gaze from the bland tile floor of the hospital room to look up at Cid, who was bent over trying to coerce some sort of reaction out of him. Should he…was he supposed to say something? What had Cid asked? Something about…about sleep…

Eye contact seemed to placate the older man, though he cursed under his breath at whatever was looking back out of Leon's eyes at him. His hands drifted to his pocket, where he was fighting the urge to light up in the smoke-free hospital.

"What time…" Leon started, cleared his throat—which had been rendered hoarse somehow—had he been screaming earlier?—and tried again, "How much time—"

Cid looked to the clock on the wall, "It's been about 37 hours since they were brought in. Forty-five hours since the quake."

The earthquake…right. Forty-five hours ago a massive earthquake had rocked half of Twilight Town. The entire downtown sects had been ripped apart. Buildings full of people had collapsed, and aftershocks had been destabilizing the area since the quake itself stopped.

Of course, the first thing the Alliance did was deploy several squads to help with search and rescue and handling the situation, making order out of chaos. He had been across the Allied territory in Traverse Town, working up…progress reports sounded right. It felt like days ago…had been days ago, he guessed. By the time he'd wrapped up there and started back to Radiant Garden, the airwaves had been a cacophony of news and rumors about the quake.

Cid, Tifa, and Cloud's squads had all been sent to help with the aid effort, and ten minutes after Leon's Gummi touched down in Radiant Garden, it was taking flight again, refueled and carrying his squad to help Twilight Town as well.

That had been…how many hours was that…35? 36 maybe? It didn't matter, the damage had been done, and now…

"Is she…Has there been any…" Leon asked groggily.

"No change." Cid shook his head. "But you need to move around."

He looked up at the man, "What?" He croaked, throat dry.

"I got here three hours ago and you haven't moved at all." Cid grasped one of Leon's arms, giving him a coaxing tug. "Turning into a zombie won't help her."

In all actuality, Leon wanted nothing more than to just sit here and wait, because waiting was all he could do at this point, and if that was all he could do, he wanted to at least do that where he could see her, keep an eye on her. But Cid managed to coerce him to his feet, and the sudden return of blood flow to his extremities made him light headed for a moment.

Due to the waves of casualties from the earthquake, a private hospital room had been out of the question. Tifa was sharing a room with three other people, all three of which were outpatient. Broken arms, concussions, and mild burns: paper cuts compared to—Tifa's condition.

The arm and leg on her right side had sustained severely compound fractures. The muscle damage and bleeding in her leg was still tempting the doctors to consider amputation. Her face, neck, and shoulder were burned and swollen and bruised. Major head trauma had kept her unconscious since she was brought in, and she had yet to respond to any of the treatment that she was being given.

She had coded in the OR when they removed the shrapnel and debris from her chest cavity, where she had been nearly impaled by a splintered piece of…something. Almost all of her organs had had some episode of internal bleeding since she was admitted and now she wasn't even breathing on her own.

If Leon had had anything left in him to throw up, he would have.

"You have your phone?" Cid was asking.

Leon tore his eyes away from her red, bruised, and stitched face to Cid's concerned one. "What?"

"Phone." Cid repeated, "Aerith is here. I'll stay with Tifa until Aerith finds her room. Then she'll stay with her. We'll keep an eye on her for you. You need to get out of this room for a while."

It was the last thing Leon wanted to do, but whatever part of his brain that hadn't been damaged by panic, sleep deprivation, or general shock seemed to see Cid's logic. So he just grunted something noncommittal, made sure he still had his phone in his pocket, and wandered out of the ICU.

Now what?

What was he supposed to do? Get some fresh air? Twilight Town reeked of ash, fuel, and blood. There was nowhere he wanted to be. He didn't want to be in this hospital, on this world, and he definitely did not want Tifa to be in this hospital. He let his legs take him wherever they wanted. Cid was right…He was a zombie.

Leon opened his eyes before realizing that he'd shut them.

He was sitting in one of the pews in the hospital chapel. It was a small, enclosed room, dimly lit and all in soft, warm colors. There wasn't a specific denomination of any religion on display…It was just a standard support room for people to…to wait…like he was.

The chaos had more or less abated, the aftershocks had almost settled down now, though they would probably continue on and off for days…Tifa hadn't even been in Twilight Town when the earthquake had hit…She had been searching for survivors in an unstable building when an aftershock hit, causing the building to implode and collapse on top of her entire squad. Luckily Cloud's group had been nearby and they had dug them all out. Cloud had been the one to identify her first…and Leon had no idea where he was now.

"I never took you for the religious type." Tifa was sitting next to him.

Leon started slightly, turning to look at her. She looked back at him, not a mark on her. Her skin was as fair and smooth as it had been two days ago…Her eye wasn't swollen shut and her face wasn't covered in bruises. God, she was beautiful.

But…wait…this—

"You aren't here." He said hoarsely.

She folded her hands in her lap. "No. I'm not." She tilted her head, "I'm sorry."

Leon closed his eyes. It was painful to look at her like this when he knew she wasn't okay. "What are you then? A hallucination?"

"Yes." Was her quiet answer.

"Why?" He swallowed hard.

"You're sleep deprived and stressed out…A hallucination isn't so far fetched." She remarked.

He looked at her painfully. The dim lighting of the room gave her wine-colored eyes a soft shine to them, made her skin nearly glow, and she was sitting there like…like a porcelain sculpture, instead of the bloodied body who the doctors were trying to keep stable down the hall.

She smiled gently and he almost had to look away from her.

"Why did you go back in there?" He said, a tremble breaking across his arms as he leaned forward in the pew.

"There were people inside. They were hurt and they needed help." It was something she would say. At least his hallucination of her was accurate.

"The building was unstable." He tried to make her understand. "There were precautions that should have been taken…"

She tilted her head the other way and moved closer to him. "There wasn't time…This isn't your fault."

"God…" He exhaled, looking away from her. Why did she do that?

"Because I know you." She whispered in answer to his silent question. "There was nothing you could have done, and you couldn't have stopped me from going in there."

"Stop…" He closed his eyes. "Please…"

"You can't fix me." She said.

Any composure he had left started to crumble. "Why are you telling me this?" He looked at her, no matter how much the sight of her hurt him. "The doctors will fix you. You're destroying me."

"I'm sorry." She whispered, standing. "Maybe I should go."

"No." Leon turned in his seat so that he was facing her where she stood in the aisle. "I don't—I'm sorry. I don't want you to go."

Go where? She was a hallucination.

"You don't." It was a statement, not a question. "But my being here is hurting you." She looked perplexed.

Leon watched her, not any particular part of her, just her. The way she moved. The way she held herself. Her posture. The curve of her body. The sad little smile on her lips. Her eyes. He dropped his gaze to the pew before her eyes could suck him in and never let him escape.

"Are you dying?" He asked tonelessly.

She lifted a hand and brushed her fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes again, willing this hallucination to stop torturing him, but at the same time hoping that time would stop…that he could hold onto this for just a little longer…because the way things were going…She might never look this whole and healthy again…His throat constricted.

"I'm not psychic." She was saying. "I am only the construct of the real Tifa you know, the woman you love. I only know what you know."

Her hand lingered, her fingers sliding through his hair. She had mentioned that her mother would always play with her hair when she was upset or sick as a child…So she had insisted on giving him the same treatment when he was stressed out or unsettled about something…And though he never provoked her to do it, he never dissuaded her either.

And it wasn't making this moment any easier.

Leon involuntarily leaned into the touch, wanting more contact, more of her warmth, her touch, her skin. Even if she wasn't real right now…He needed this, needed her. He had leaned forward enough now that his forehead was touching her ribs, where she was still standing in front of him. God, she felt real…

"I'll fix this." He found himself muttering.

Both of her hands moved to the sides of his head and he looked up at her. She kept eye contact with him as she sat down beside him.

"You can't." She sounded breathless. "I'm so sorry."

He shook his head and she withdrew, "No. I can…I won't let—"

"Shh…" She toyed with his hair some more. "You can't solve everything, baby."

He trembled again involuntarily and clenched his jaw hard to stop it. "Why not?"

"That's not how it works." She whispered.

"Then what?" A sense of urgency crept on him again. "What should I do?"

She looked painfully vulnerable and sympathetic. "Prepare yourself for what might happen."

"No—"

"Sir!" Private Tabaeus McCallister stepped into the room.

Leon blinked, the ache returning to his body as he lifted his head. Tifa was gone, and part of him was suddenly furious at the soldier for interrupting the hallucination. Right now, reality was not his friend. He turned to look at the other woman.

The private's left shoulder was in a blue sling, and there were bruises littering her left side, but otherwise she looked healthy. She had been caught in some of the residual collapse from the building, but a dislocated shoulder and some bruises were hardly anything to complain about at this point.

"What?" He asked flatly.

"Commander Highwind sent me." She said, pale and twitchy. "It's Tifa."

**..:-X-:..**

"She had a severe allergic reaction to the antibiotics that we gave her." Dr. Kya Leng said, holding Tifa's medical chart with both hands.

"What does that mean?" Cloud sounded like he was interrogating the doctor.

Leon was aware of McCallister's eyes on him from her spot by the door. His back was turned to her, but the private had never been subtle when she was concerned. He didn't have time to pay attention to her right now. Tifa looked worse…Her skin almost looked yellow.

"Her liver is failing, that's why she's jaundiced." Dr. Leng answered. "Because her kidneys are also failing, we're going to put her on dialysis as soon as she's stabilized."

Cid had taken Aerith and Yuffie out of the room, but Cloud had refused to leave. McCallister was just standing by the door. Leon stood by Tifa's bedside; the ventilator's hum sounded alien as it pushed oxygen into her lungs. All of the machines and monitors and IVs hooked up to her gave her a robotic look. She was more artificial life support than human being at this point.

"She's not allergic to antibiotics." He mumbled, glancing over to Dr. Leng and Cloud.

Dr. Leng's shoulders fell slightly. "I know. I have her entire medical history here." She held up the file. "I've seen every member of the Restoration Committee in this hospital more times in the past year than any other patients. None of you are allergic to these antibiotics."

"Then why did she have a reaction?" Cloud asked, a panicked edge to his voice. "Why is she getting worse?"

Dr. Leng inhaled. "Multiple system failure is a sign of something else going on. The reaction to antibiotics might have been mistaken."

"Mistaken?" Leon faced her. "You can't make mistakes with her. Find out what's wrong and fix her."

"It's not that simple." Dr. Leng shook her head. "All of the tests we've run have come back negative. Our best diagnosis right now, ruling out the blunt force trauma, is a complication of a preexisting condition."

"She doesn't have any preexisting conditions." Cloud pointed out.

At the doctor's silence, Leon looked at her again. "What?"

Dr. Leng looked hesitant, "We think she may have gotten an infection in the OR."

"So you did this to her?" Cloud started.

Leon blinked slowly and saw McCallister's eyes widen. He looked more directly at the private as Dr. Leng went on.

"It's a very weak strain of a very common infection. Her body should have naturally fought it off without breaking a sweat." The doctor explained, "Yet, for some reason, it's spread across her liver and kidneys, and her lungs have already collapsed twice."

"She has no immune system." Cloud stated.

"Rather…Tests showed that she is on immunosuppressants." Dr. Leng explained.

McCallister's eyes shot from Dr. Leng, to Tifa, to Leon, and then she abruptly left the room, as though she'd had an epiphany. Leon watched her dart out and took one step after her before seeing Tifa's reflection in the hallway window. Cloud and Dr. Leng's voices fell mute…or maybe they just disappeared entirely.

"I'm hallucinating again." He turned around to see Tifa, whole and healthy, standing by the window.

She was leaning against the wall, arms folded in front of her. "Yes."

He glanced around the room. Dr. Leng and Cloud were still speaking across the room…Didn't they notice him talking to himself? Was he actually talking outloud or did he just think he was? None of this was making any sense.

"They don't know what's wrong with you." He said, tearing his eyes from the damaged and broken body on the bed to Tifa standing against the wall. "Are you dying?"

"We've gone over this." She said delicately, unfolding her arms. "We're all dying."

"Don't give me that." He said, voice thick as he looked at her. "Why am I hallucinating now?"

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "You're scared."

He didn't answer that, half turning away from her, feeling lightheaded. "You can't die. Not now…not after all this."

"You're afraid to lose me." She stepped toward him. "Just like you lost—"

"Don't." He lifted a hand. "Don't you dare. It's not the same."

Why was the room suddenly turning bright?

"You'll be okay if something bad happens."

"No, I won't." Leon glared at her.

Tifa placed her hand on his chest. "I'm sorry." She smiled softly. "But, hey, if I don't make it, you can get rid of the couch."

He stopped breathing, pulling away from her, willing her to go away. He didn't want to hear this…And if that—if she actually—He would never be able to get rid of that piece of furniture if she did. He could never go home, because her things were there. The apartment smelled like her. The others…They couldn't fill her place…He would have no one.

"Tabaeus." Tifa said.

The ground felt like it was shifting under him; it was dizzying. "What?"

"Find her. She can fix this." Tifa said softly.

"You said I couldn't fix you." Leon started to list sideways, losing his balance.

"You can't…Not like this…but she knows something…You know she does." Tifa nodded.

"But what does that—"

Cold tile floor.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy."

"He's coming back…Leon?"

Leon's eyes fell open to see the legs of a chair a few feet from his face. He was lying on his side and hands were holding him there, as well as holding an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose. He jerked slightly back to awareness and Dr. Leng leaned into view.

"Can you hear me, Leon?" She asked, the rest of her body connected to the hand holding the mask against his face.

He coughed once and moved his face out of the plastic. "M'fine."

"You collapsed and had a seizure." She said.

He looked at her for a moment. "No, I didn't." He started to get an elbow under himself.

Cloud, who had been behind him, gripped his other arm. "Yeah, pretty sure you did."

Leon grumbled something but let Cloud help him sit up while Dr. Leng checked him over.

"There are numerous toxins that were released after the earthquake." Dr. Leng said. "You probably inhaled some of them. Are you having any difficulty breathing?"

Leon inhaled and shook his head, feeling nauseas. "No…Would toxins cause hallucinations?"

She blinked, "Have you been experiencing hallucinations?"

The monitors around Tifa's bed began to scream and Dr. Leng scrambled to her feet, crossing over to her bedside. "She's coding…I need a crash cart in here!"

A team of uniformed medical personnel began to bustle in and Cloud shifted, pulling one of Leon's arms over his shoulders. "Up and at 'em." He urged.

Leon found his legs and fought the vertigo as he stood up with Cloud. They both maneuvered out of the way as the nurses swarmed over Tifa, babbling medical jargon at each other at lightning speed as they tried to find out what was wrong.

Dr. Leng grabbed up two paddles. "Charging."

"What happened—" Leon started.

"I have no idea." Cloud responded, the blood draining from his face. "She was stable just a few seconds ago."

"They need to be out of here." Dr. Leng was telling a nurse, who promptly walked over to Leon and Cloud. "Clear!"

Leon numbly let the nurse shuffle both him and Cloud out of the room, eyes glued to the paddles that the doctor pressed against Tifa's chest. Her entire body convulsed as the electrical current pushed into her system. Her back arched, but it just lasted a moment. Then she went slack again, and the lines on the monitor remained flatline.

"Charging again." Dr. Leng announced.

The nurses began to manually pump oxygen down Tifa's throat and push needles into her IV lines to try and stabilize her...bring her back.

"Bring her back." He muttered under his breath.

"Cloud! Leon!" Aerith hastened down the hall, pale as a sheet. "What's happening?"

Cloud stepped out of view to talk to her, and Leon remained in the doorway to Tifa's room, feeling completely and utterly helpless for the second time in his life. It was like everything was moving in horrifying slow motion. The team of nurses dashing to and fro, Dr. Leng ordering this and that medication and calling clear again…and again…and then again…

Then everything stopped.

The nurses stopped rushing.

Dr. Leng stopped barking orders.

She stopped calling clear.

She checked her watch, said something to one of the nurses, who wrote it down.

Aerith was crying behind him.

All feeling evaporated around Leon and he just stared, like a zombie, as Dr. Leng looked over to them, pain on her face. She stepped away from the body on the bed and started toward the door. She was about to tell him something…She was about to say something to him that he could never unhear, that he could never fix, that he could never accept.

Reality kicked into overdrive and time resumed its normal pace.

"No." He stepped forward unsteadily. "Don't stop—"

"Leon…" Dr. Leng started.

"You have to fix her." He pushed past the doctor, going to Tifa's side.

"The damage was too extensive." Dr. Leng said apologetically as the nurses stepped away. "She lost too much blood. The infection was too set in…There was nothing we could have done. She's gone."

"Don't say that." He growled at her, half tempted to start CPR on her himself.

"Sir!" McCallister skidded down the hallway, looking half wild.

Leon ignored her, ignored everything, and just looked down at the body on the bed.

This wasn't supposed to happen…None of it…Not after this…not after everything…after EVERYTHING…The universe was just going to take her away? What kind of cruel torture was this? His fists closed at his sides, but the fury was just there to burn. There was no outlet. There was no making this right. There was no fixing this. So he let it burn. God, he prayed for it to boil through him, flay him alive, and just let him die.

Maybe then he wouldn't have to face this.

Dr. Leng swallowed and moved to the other side of the bed, removing the tape on Tifa's face that had held the ventilator in place, brushing her hair aside as she did so. Leon followed her movements dully, feeling both absolutely nothing and at the same time, every inconceivable agony in the world. He had to be dying. It couldn't hurt this badly and not kill him. It just wasn't fair. It wasn't justice. The cosmos had murdered…killed her.

"Sir—" McCallister panted.

"Not now." He hissed, watching Dr. Leng remove the tubes. "Go away."

"Sir, please—"

"Get out, McCallister." He growled at her.

Dr. Leng grimaced and pushed Tifa's hair aside, pulling the vent tube away from her face. A bolt of electricity shot through him then, and it took a moment for him to figure out why.

"This isn't right." He murmured.

"Of course it's not." Dr. Leng remarked gently. "There is no way for us to understand why these things happen. It's not for us to decide right and wro—"

"No, it's not—Wait—" He reached down, brushing her dark hair aside. "What is that?"

Dr. Leng paused, looking uneasily at him and then following his gaze. There was a dark splotch behind her ear that, upon further inspection, looked like a musical treble clef.

"It's a tattoo." The doctor stated.

Leon looked to Dr. Leng. "Tifa doesn't have a tattoo there."

"What?" Cloud said from the doorway next to McCallister.

McCallister.

Leon turned sharply on his heel. "McCallister."

The private looked at him, bug eyed. "Sir."

"What were you going to tell me?" He asked.

Dr. Leng stepped closer to the body. "You're sure? This is a small tattoo. You might just never have noticed—"

Leon exhaled heavily, a buzz ballooning over his skull. He ignored the doctor and kept his eyes on the soldier. "What was it?"

McCallister swallowed hard as all eyes shot to her. "That's not Tifa."

"What are you talking about?" Cloud asked. "I ID'ed her two days ago."

Behind him, Aerith was wiping at her eyes, looking torn between confusion and hysteria.

"She has been completely mangled." McCallister said softly. "She was unrecognizable when she was pulled from the rubble…Broken facial bones, blunt force trauma—"

"Make your point." Leon said impatiently.

McCallister lifted a file. "Pamela Kent." Cloud snatched the file away, opening it, and McCallister kept talking. "Age 26, Caucasian, dark hair, roughly 130 pounds. Allergic to broad spectrum antibiotics. Had a kidney transplant two years ago, been on immunosuppressant drugs ever since."

Dr. Leng straightened, walking over and taking the file from Cloud, who looked over at Leon with disbelief on his face. Leon stood there dumbly, watching Dr. Leng and McCallister.

"This isn't Tifa." He gestured to the body behind him.

McCallister bobbed her head, "Like you said, she doesn't have a tattoo."

Leon felt lightheaded again, "Where is she?"

**..:-X-:..**

Dislocated hip, broken pelvic bone, mild concussion, broken wrist, and a bruised kidney. Surgery to fix the pelvic bone. Antibiotics. A few hours on a ventilator to keep her airways from swelling shut when she first arrived to the hospital.

Other than that, Tifa was stable.

"We're weaning her off the anesthesia now." Dr. Will Gregory told Leon. "She should wake up in a few minutes."

Leon and the others stood outside the room, in various states of confusion and numbed shock. No one had said anything since McCallister's revelation. What was there to say? Tifa was still alive…but someone else had died…Part of Leon was glad that it was someone else and not Tifa, and another part of him felt sick for thinking that.

"How could I mistake her for someone else?" Cloud broke the silence.

Leon closed his eyes, leaning forward with his palms against the sill of the room window. The blinds had been pulled and Dr. Gregory had just gone back inside to run a few more checks before allowing them inside to see her. Leon felt numb. This emotional roller coaster had simply drained him of everything he had to feel.

"We all thought it was her." Cid said. "Don't beat yourself up."

"She was here…the whole time." Cloud murmured.

"She's going to be fine." Aerith said. "Focus on that. This wasn't anybody's fault. Tifa is going to be okay. A full recovery, that's what Dr. Gregory said."

Leon opened his eyes again, but the blinds were still closed. He was at the end of his tether. If the doctor didn't open the door and let him in within the next two minutes…

McCallister was standing off to the side, arms about herself, eyes downcast to the base of the wall. "I should get back…The rescue teams…need—"

"Commander Highwind." Graham Nestor made his entrance just as Dr. Gregory opened the patient room door.

The group sat up en masse, ignoring Nestor and looking to the doctor.

"She's waking up. She's stable." Dr. Gregory said before they could ask. "She may be groggy at first…and she may not stay awake for long."

"But she's okay?" Cloud asked.

"She's exhausted and will be disoriented, but she should be fine with treatment and physical therapy." Dr. Gregory nodded slowly, "I suggest only two people at most to be with her right now."

Leon straightened, but none of the others moved.

Nestor looked perplexed. "What's going on here?"

"Go ahead." Aerith offered a small smile to Leon. "We'll wait out here."

Leon looked haphazardly to Cloud, who looked almost as past the brink as Leon himself was. The other man looked twitchy for a moment, but he nodded. "She's right."

"Private McCallister, why aren't you at your post?" Nestor sidled up to face the soldier.

Leon walked past the councilman toward the room. Whatever Nestor was complaining about now…It could wait.

"Sir, there was an accident—" McCallister was saying.

"Yes, it's called an earthquake, now why have you been—"

The conversation fell to background and then silence as Leon closed the door after himself, standing in Tifa's room, alone with her.

She was reclined on the bed, propped up by pillows. Brace around her wrist, minor cuts and bruises on her skin. Breathing on her own…He had never realized just how amazing it was to watch her breathe, all on her own, no machines.

He crossed the room to her side, not sure if his legs would hold him up much longer, but willing to risk it. Her face was moving, waking up. Slowly, ever so slowly. It had been half an hour since he thought he watched her die. Now here she was…breathing and everything.

Her eyelids fluttered and opened. Her eyes were out of focus and dull with anesthesia, but she blinked a few times and looked around at her surroundings for a few seconds before finding him and focusing.

"Hey." She murmured, voice weak.

Leon sank to sit on the edge of her bed; his legs refused to take it anymore. "Hey."

Tifa shifted slightly, grimacing as she did so.

"Take it easy." He said, moving his hand to her arm. "You just had surgery."

She looked up at him with half lidded eyes. "How did it go?"

"Great." He replied, something clogging his throat. "Do you remember what happened?"

She eyed him steadily for a long moment, and this time he let her eyes suck him in. He never wanted to escape from this. "The earthquake…a building…aftershock—" Her eyes widened, "The others—"

"Cloud's squad was nearby and got everybody out." He said, sliding his hand up to her neck, holding her jaw tenderly. "Close call."

She leaned her cheek into his touch and lifted her uninjured hand to his wrist. "Are you okay?"

The burning sensation hit the back of his eyes before he could sense it coming. His vision blurred slightly and he blinked furiously, looking away briefly before back to her. She looked mildly alarmed at his behavior.

Leon swallowed hard and then bent forward, kissing her gently on the forehead. Then the temple, the eyebrow, the cheek, and then her lips. She kissed him back before withdrawing.

"You're worrying me. Did I almost—" She started, eyes widening.

"No." You have no idea. "You're going to be fine."

She didn't look convinced, like she knew he wasn't telling her everything. He didn't give into it, and instead just looked back at her, drinking her in.

"Are you okay?" She repeated, her eyes glancing over him for signs of injury.

"Yeah." He kissed her again. "I'm okay."

The other patients in the room were asleep or reading, not paying particular attention to him or Tifa. He preferred it that way. Tifa still looked bewilderedly at him. He should say something…Dammit, he had never been good with words, but he felt like he should say something to take away that utterly perplexed look on her face. So he said the only thing that came to mind.

"I love you."

The haze of the drugs and the pain killers still lingered in her eyes, but they opened considerably at those three little words. Those words that neither of them had yet said to each other. He realized she probably wouldn't remain awake for much longer because of the trauma and the drugs, as much as he wanted her to.

"Leon—" She said slowly.

"I know—I'm sorry, I know you just woke up…but—"

Tifa reached up and placed one hand against the side of his head, sitting up slightly and interrupting him by pressing her lips to his. It was a tired, fading kiss, and when her eyes drifted closed with it, he knew the medication was stealing her away to sleep again.

The kiss was brief, and as it drew to a close, Tifa eased back onto the pillows and exhaled easily. She started to mumble as she fell asleep.

"—ve you too."

Leon made sure she was comfortable and then settled into a chair. "I'll be here when you wake up."

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N:** There you have it folks!

I'd like to give a big Thank You, a hug, and super special awesome potato casserole to all the awesome reviewers who took the time to stick with my little collection here: WishingDreamer5, AThousandSuns, Mr. Omelette, Kiss of the Breeze, Colorslander, justagirl8225, The Sacred and Profane, Lett, kikofreako, shynsei, Eva Von Dee, raiko. EXE, Handwritten, The Glaistig, Atramentous Love, ShinobiMatt, Beauty and the Freak, ilovefetamorethanyou, and XxOoSolanaSkylarXxOo!

Even though this collection has wrapped up, my full length Lefa story is up and going, called _As the Sun Sets on Mushroom Clouds_. Stop by there for some more LeonTifa. And I'm always on the lookout for more Lefa to read, so if anybody finds any LeonTifa stories or want to read some written by others, check out my community called _Matters of the Hart_.

Thanks again for reading!


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